In Conversation With "Mission: Impossible" Actress Rebecca Ferguson

When she was cast in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, nobody could have predicted what a huge part of the Mission: Impossible family Rebecca Ferguson would become.

Originally intended to feature in just one movie, her character, Ilsa Faust, was so instantly popular that she returned in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, becoming a core part of Ethan Hunt’s team. Since her first appearance in the series, the Golden Globe-nominated Ferguson has become one of the world’s most celebrated performers, also starring in other worldwide smashes including The Greatest Showman and Dune.

A British MI6 agent entrusted with its most dangerous missions, Ilsa Faust first crossed paths with Ethan Hunt while working undercover to bring down powerful terrorist organization The Syndicate. She is both fiercely independent and fiercely loyal, always putting the lives of others before her own. Their shared belief in doing what’s right, whatever the cost to themselves, has seen her form a deep connection with Hunt. In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One this partnership comes up against a terrifying new adversary: Gabriel (Esai Morales), a man with a terrible mission of his own.

The Mission: Impossible movies have a unique creative process. They don’t start with a complete script but evolve as they go. How would you describe that on-set experience?

“Tom and McQ have a way of working which from the outside could look very odd, but it’s genius. The story is mostly in McQ and Tom’s heads, not on paper. For people who are new to the game, I guess that could be stressful because they don't really understand the process. But that’s why everyone’s there, to support everyone. The creation happens in the conversations between Tom and McQ. Everything that is created is enhanced by the dynamic between them. It is incredible to watch. It all comes together in front of you. It is extraordinary how much knowledge they have about film and camera angles and storytelling and building tension and character. Tom is extremely focused on character. ‘Why?’ is Tom’s question all the time. ‘Why is that happening? Why is he doing that?’ It’s so detailed.”

How would you describe the threat that the team face in this movie?

“What has been really interesting and extremely intelligently created by McQ and Tom in these movies is that they play with the question of what is actually good and bad. There’s a scene we cut from the last movie, between Ilsa and Ethan, where she is saying to him: ‘Why are we doing this, you and me? Why don’t we give up? There will always be people like us who can take over, so why don’t we let them and go and live the life that other people get to live?’ But it’s also the reverse. Who is really bad? In Fallout, Sean Harris’ Solomon Lane talks about bringing them over to a world that’s better, but in our world he was seen as evil because of the destruction [that would entail]. But is it? Or is it human growth? These films have always played with big thoughts of ownership and world control – how we have been controlled by the police, state and government, the politicians. Obviously [in these stories], the baddies are the baddies – and we know they are because they kill and want to destroy everyone and everything. But there’s always a philosophical mind at play in these stories too. What is actually ‘bad’ if you break it down? For a lot of these characters, that will depend on the balance of their beliefs – on what they believe is truthful and real. In this movie, Gabriel, the antagonist, is in full belief of what he wants, and that is justice, for the betterment of all mankind, or for whatever is left of it when he’s done.”

What is it about this story that’s so big it needs splitting into two movies?

“These movies just become bigger and bigger, with larger and larger themes. They are so big and grand, location-wise. It really is a mission, shooting these movies. So, linking two together? That is not an easy task, in any way, shape or form. But I think that the scale of what Tom and McQ have attempted here demands two movies. To let the story and characters breathe against this never-bigger, action-packed backdrop.”

Let’s talk Ilsa. What is she going through in this movie?

“This is where it gets hard! [Laughs] Because it’s very hard to promote a story that you don’t fully know. The way we work is that we shoot a lot of footage, and then they cut it together. Then we get to see that version at the premiere! And we go, ‘Oh, that makes sense!’ But that works perfectly for these films because the fact is that in these movies, these characters never have the full picture in front of them. The fun of watching these films is watching these characters discover things as they go. That’s where that wonderful dynamic comes from. Are they working together? Are they not working together? We ended the last movie thinking that there is sort of a collaboration here between Ilsa and Ethan. We begin this one very confused again. It’s that dance between these two characters that I have fallen in love with.”

In the trailer, we see Ilsa and Ethan embracing. What can we read into that?

“You can read whatever you want into that [laughs], but I don’t want to give anything away. What I will say is that we have always, for years, talked about the relationship between them because it’s so complex. The bond between these two people has been born of trauma and chaos – these are emotions that go beyond any form of love affair or kinship. They have this pure urge to protect and support each other, but also to have their own rights. They’re two very similar characters. What do you see? Is it love? Is it friendship? Is it family? Is it support? Is it just knowing that something’s about to blow up? That’s the whole point of this dynamic.”

The trailer also gives a glimpse of a showdown between Ilsa and Esai Morales’ Gabriel in Venice. What can you share about that sequence?

“It's always a wonderful moment when bad and good meet. What was fun about this meeting is that I got to train to sword fight for the scene, which was ridiculously hard and wonderfully exciting to do. I’ll never forget shooting that scene – sword fighting over turquoise waters in Venice. And Esai is phenomenal. He’s unpredictable, a classic baddie. It’s a dance.” 

What made the sword fighting so difficult to master?

“It’s so tricky. You always have the possibility of doing the fighting with lighter replicas. So, in some angles you have the sword and for certain other angles, if it’s dangerous, you switch that sword out for the replica, so you don’t chop someone’s head off. But the part you don’t realize until you first do it is how important the weight is. Because the weight is so important, you have to train with the real weapon. And then you have to remember what that weight feels like, so you can fight with something that’s not equally weighted but make it look the same. It’s not just the choreography – which is difficult enough in and of itself – but retaining the muscle memory of training with the real weapon. There’s so much more to it than I ever understood before.” 

A lot of the characters in this movie are exploring their darker sides. How does that play out on screen?

“I remember McQ and Tom talking a lot on the last movie, Fallout, about what they wanted to do with this one. They talked about not being scared, about wanting for the next film to basically eat up the franchise emotionally, to give the audience another level of action and emotion. People know the ingredients that make these films so great and one of them is their ability to give you a metaphorical emotional stomach punch. And Tom and I have often talked about not being afraid of giving these characters physical tasks and emotions to deal with. Whether it’s loss or love or fear, we have never been afraid to go deeper, to go further. And this movie is maybe the pinnacle of that.”

Is there a sense that these two new Mission movies are almost a love-letter to the whole series?

“Honestly, everything Tom and McQ do is intentional. Everything. Every angle, every shot, every line, every prop, the costumes, the music, the edit. This is a movie that has so much boom and abandon and adventure. But, also, there is so much in there that is an homage to something they loved in the previous movies, or something they loved in all the classic movies the two of them are always referencing on set. They are far too smart for me to ever try and even pretend to know what they’re talking about [laughs]. At the beginning, they’ll go, ‘Have you seen this classic movie or that classic movie?’ And at the start [on her first Mission movie, Rogue Nation], I would sometimes pretend that I had, to look smart. And then go and watch it that night. But now I’m just honest and say I haven’t seen it. I’ll be like, ‘Send me a list of all the films you want me to see. But remember I’m a novice.’” 

Dead Reckoning Part One promises to be a truly epic adventure for audiences. How much of an adventure have you had making it?

“It’s been incredible, it really has. The places we’ve seen, the things we’ve done. I absolutely loved Abu Dhabi. It was phenomenal. The desert location and the footage you get from it is just exquisite. Putting us into nature that is so uncontrollable, whether it’s a sandstorm or whatever, and us just having to adapt to it, was so beautiful and so apt. It’s the same with all the different inputs of nature – from rain to wind – that came into play on Tom’s bike jump. No matter how much planning you do, you can’t control Mother Nature. That’s what makes it so dangerous. And that’s what makes it so exciting to watch. People will never understand what it took for everyone involved to make that bike stunt work.”

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One opens in cinemas July 12. The Part Two is scheduled for release next year.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures