Actor, comedian, and screenwriter Simon Pegg is a massively talented man. Best known for his work writing and starring in Edgar Wright’s brilliant and hilarious Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, Pegg has proven he can turn his hand to almost anything. 1c5n6c

He recently got the opportunity to flex his acting chops in a big way in season 4 of Amazon’s The Boys, giving an incredible farewell performance as the father of Jack Quaid’s Hughie Campbell Jr.

It got us thinking about Pegg’s finest performances throughout his long career — and we believe we’ve accurately nailed the best ten. Read on, fair WGTC visitor, to determine if you agree with our picks.

10. Buck Wild in the Ice Age movies 153i2d

In 2009, Pegg got the chance to demonstrate his voice-acting skills, playing the role of Buck Wild in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. He has since reprised the role in the 2011 short Scrat’s Continental Crack-up, 2012’s Ice Age: Continental Drift, 2016’s Ice Age: Collision Course, and 2022’s The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild.

Buck is an eyepatch-wearing weasel and a dinosaur hunter who, having spent much time in isolation, is a little insane (he talks to inanimate objects a lot). That said, he’s a brave survivalist whose assistance is vital to the core cast of Ice Age characters. Pegg brings him to life impeccably, voicing the furry adventurer with bags of energy and humor — and it’s easy to tell he’s having a lot of fun doing it.

9. Graeme Willy in Paul 5c1lf

Pegg and his best friend and regular collaborator Nick Frost wrote 2011’s sci-fi comedy road movie Paul, and the obvious love and enjoyment that went into it is almost palpable. Pegg plays Graeme Willy, and Frost plays Clive Gollings — two British buddies and comic book and sci-fi nerds in the United States for the annual San Diego Comic-Con who end up helping the eponymous friendly alien to evade the Secret Service.

Pegg’s performance is funny, cheeky, intelligent, and incredibly likable. While Paul isn’t the finest collaboration between him and Frost, it’s typically enjoyable, and you can relate to their characters as they react convincingly to their unusual predicament.

8. Tim Bisley in Spaced 2s2e1z

Spaced established Pegg and director Edgar Wright as genuine talent special.. Pegg wrote and starred in the sitcom, which aired on British station Channel 4 from 1999 until 2001 and followed two twenty-something Londoners who pretend to be a professional couple to rent an affordable London flat.

The BAFTA-nominated show is one of the best British comedies ever, and Pegg plays Tim Bisley brilliantly. The show is packed with pop culture references, which Pegg is very at home with. His relatable performance and chemistry with Jessica Stevenson (and, of course, Nick Frost) is why the show was so successful. If you haven’t already, you should binge-watch Spaced whenever you can.

7. Gary King in The World’s End 6bd6e

The third installment in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy and the first to appear on this list is 2013’s sci-fi comedy The World’s End. It follows a group of five friends — played by the talented quintet of Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, and Eddie Marsan — who return to their hometown for a pub crawl amidst an alien invasion.

Pegg plays the group’s ringleader, Gary King, an immature alcoholic who refuses to grow up — and it’s his idea to reunite his friends in a desperate attempt to relive his youth. He’s incredibly annoying, but in a good way, because that’s exactly what Gary is meant to be. By the end, however, he’s got you on his side with his hilarious, madcap, and heartfelt performance.

6. Benji Dunn in the Mission Impossible movies 692j64

Pegg fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming an action hero when J.J. Abrams personally rang him to offer him a role in 2006’s Mission: Impossible III. He has since played Benji Dunn in 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, 2015’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and 2023’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (he’ll also appear in Part Two in 2025).

The British star has made the role his own and gave a particularly outstanding performance in Rogue Nation, for which he was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best ing Actor. Dunn is an IMF technician-turned-field agent whose loyalty, heart, humor, kindness, and formidableness are all conveyed superbly by Pegg. That he’s slotted so effortlessly into the high-octane franchise is a testament to his versatility as an actor.

5. Scotty in the Star Trek movies 3o2qq

The Star Trek reboot franchise — which began in 2009 with Star Trek and continued with 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness and 2016’s Star Trek Beyond — had a lot to do to live up to its predecessor, but it’s fair to say it’s done an excellent job of doing so.

Pegg plays Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, following in the footsteps of James Doohan from the original series. That would have been an intimidating prospect for any actor, but Pegg pulled it off tremendously. Having been endorsed by Doohan’s son Chris for the role, Pegg gives a wonderfully comical performance as Scotty in all three installments of the rebooted franchise. He splits opinion in the role, but that’s primarily because he’s nothing like Doohan’s version — but Pegg’s boldly original take on the character deserves praise more than criticism.

4. Danny Patrick in The Undeclared War u6h2i

The near-future British cybercrime drama thriller series The Undeclared War aired for six episodes on Channel 4 from June until August 2022. It follows a team of elite Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) analysts secretly attempting to fend off a foreign cyber-attack on Britain’s electoral system. Pegg plays Danny Patrick, the GCHQ’s head of operations.

Pegg gives an effortless and impressive dramatic performance. He remains deadpan throughout, which gives his character a chilling vibe. Yet, he also comes across as paternal in his relationship with Hannah Khalique-Brown’s Saara Parvin, giving his performance a multi-layered quality.

3. Nicholas Angel in Hot Fuzz 2d6g4a

2007’s action comedy Hot Fuzz is the second installment in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy and the second to appear on this list. It follows a police officer, Nicholas Angel, as he gets reassigned from London’s Metropolitan Police to the quaint rural town of Sandford, Gloucestershire, where he uncovers a murderous conspiracy.

Pegg plays Angel, and Nick Frost plays fellow police officer Danny Butterman, giving the film a fun buddy cop element. The pair’s chemistry is as flawless and endearing as ever, and Pegg shines in a sea of top British talent. His performance as Angel is all-action and brilliantly satirical — and it works so well because British police officers tend to look far more like Pegg than Tom Hardy, for example.

2. Shaun Riley in Shaun of the Dead 1v3t1x

The first movie in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, 2004’s Shaun of the Dead, remains the best — and it gave us Pegg’s second-best performance on screen. The “zom-rom-com” is one of the finest British movies and one of the best zombie movies ever. It follows Pegg’s Shaun, a downtrodden London electronics salesman, as he and the people closest to him attempt to survive a zombie apocalypse.

As always, the chemistry with Nick Frost — who plays Shaun’s best pal, Ed — makes the movie. Pegg’s performance is iconic as the everyman stepping up to keep his friends safe in the most dangerous and terrifying of predicaments. His endearing performance has you rooting for him increasingly as the story unfolds, and his line delivery is spot on. His development from slacker to hero is fun to watch.

1. Hugh Campbell, Sr. in The Boys 2i2j2c

The Boys is a fantastic satirical superhero series in its fourth season. It began airing on Amazon Prime in 2019. The show is teeming with great characters, like Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher, Antony Starr’s Homelander, Erin Moriarty’s Starlight, and Jack Quaid’s Hughie Campbell Jr. For the most part, Pegg’s Hugh Campbell Sr. — Quaid’s character’ father — has been on the periphery of the story. However, in season 4, he got his moment to shine.

On the verge of death after a stroke, Hugh is injected with the superpower-granting Compound V, which brings him back to life. However, having been braindead before the injection, he fails to control his newfound powers and, confused, accidentally murders several people. His heartfelt goodbye before Hughie Jr. isters a lethal injection to him is Pegg’s finest acting to date. The Boys fans are calling for the British actor to win an award for his terrific performance.

That which is written in the stars very rarely fast-tracks itself into reality. The waiting game, the time in the oven, the lining up of all the necessary pieces and stochastic fields, or whatever it is you call the workings of the universe, is a very necessary piece of the stories that we each lead.

Simon Pegg, who recently stepped back into the shoes of Benji Dunn for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, knows this well, and is all too comfortable with the knowledge that, at some point in the indefinite future, he and Edgar Wright – the mastermind behind such works as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Last Night in Soho – will be ing forces once again; it’s just a matter of finding their collaborative edge outside of the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy.

Speaking to Discussing Film, Pegg reminisced on how much has changed for both him and the auteur in the decade since The World’s End first landed in theaters, and now that Pegg is running around Mission: Impossible sets more often, free time isn’t what it used to be.

“Edgar and I are always talking about what we’re going to do next. Neither of us can believe it’s been 10 years since The World’s End. But because our careers have obviously changed and we’re not just sitting around writing zombie films like we used to… I’ll say this, it’s not about if but when we will do something, which we will do because we’ve already started talking about it.”

He would go on to muse on the recent discussions that he and Wright have had with regards to collaborating, making especially clear that the duo aren’t interested in scrutinizing more genres with another Cornetto movie (the trilogy itself consisting of three seemingly separate films that all follow the same thematic throughline), and instead are dead set on gunning for originality.

“With what do next, we want to be completely different from that. We don’t want to do a take on action movies or a take on sci-fi or a take on horror. We want to make a movie that is totally its own thing, existing outside of the Cornetto trilogy. My desire, really, is to do something super different.”

It’s typically the best news of all when a pair of creatives – of the caliber of Pegg and Wright no less – so vocally dedicate themselves to the pursuit of fresh material, but toss in the fact that said material will certainly find its way to cinemas at some point, and all of a sudden you’ve got everybody’s attention.

It ultimately didn’t stand a chance against the likes of Barbie or Oppenheimer, but we’d be remiss to dismiss the contributions of Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One to the summer blockbuster game of 2023. Indeed, with some audiences getting fed up with superhero films and more audiences pretending to be fed up with superhero films for the sake of having a popular opinion, Dead Reckoning Part One proved to be an important piece of high-octane, action-drenched escapism that will surely have audiences coming back for Part Two.

We’re sure Dead Reckoning Part One‘s surrender from the box office race did nothing to crush the spirits of leading man Tom Cruise, however; be it Ethan Hunt, Pete Mitchell, or whoever’s shoes he happens to be in at any given moment, the man loves to make movies, as evidenced by his death-defying commitment to each and every scene he appears in.

And it seems the Cruise effect has begun to rub off on his fellow Mission: Impossible regulars, albeit to a far less extreme degree. In a recent (but prior to the ongoing strikes in the entertainment industry) interview with DiscussingFilm, Simon Pegg – the man behind Ethan’s trusted ally Benji Dunn in the Mission: Impossible franchise – divulged the words of wisdom Cruise once offered him, specifically how doing one’s own stunts means you never become detached from your character for even a moment.

Well, I’m always happy to do anything that’s asked of me. One thing that Tom has taught me is that if you do your stunts, then you don’t ever have to hand over [the role] to a stunt professional who can’t play the character like you can. If a stunt performer never jumps in, then you are 100% always in character.

He would go on to point out, however, that even if he somehow became as gung-ho as Cruise, the nature of his Mission: Impossible character would only ever allow him to indulge that urge under very specific circumstances.

If Benji suddenly became like Ethan, it just wouldn’t ring true. Benji’s involvement in that kind of thing would have to be very accidental. It couldn’t be as proactive as Ethan because Benji is not Ethan. And one thing you don’t want to do with your characters is to have them all sort of start to bleed into each other.

It’s a curious philosophy, and perhaps a contentious one as well; resident journeyman Danny Trejo, for instance, has been vocal about the importance of actors not doing their own stunts, due in part to the fact that he doesn’t want stunt performers to be out of a job for the sake of boosting one’s ego. And say what you will about this discourse, but it’s hard to deny that the words “Tom Cruise” and “ego” aren’t the strangest of bedmates.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is now playing in theaters.

It only took three tries, but the Mission: Impossible franchise finally found the golden direction all the way back in 2006 with its third installment, and that has led us directly to Dead Reckoning Part One, the seventh entry in the franchise that just dropped in theaters.

To say that the first half of Dead Reckoning is soaring is an understatement; with a 96 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 81 to boot, the series is in one of the best states it’s ever been in, and it owes a fair shake of that success to the presence of its core characters.

Indeed, it would be easy enough for most moviegoers to show up just for Tom Cruise, but franchise veterans Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg, who portray Ethan Hunt’s longtime friends and allies Luther and Benji, have garnered quite a bit of love in their own right; love that has no doubt kept audiences coming back.

Pegg in particular is something of a success story when it comes to the franchise; after first appearing as Benji in a relatively minor desk role in Mission: Impossible III, his character has since grown into a highly capable field agent and one of the most recognizable faces in the franchise, and per a recent interview with SlashFilm, the actor couldn’t be happier with how things have gone.

“I try and bring as much of myself to him as I can, but it’s a real privilege to be able to evolve a character over the years, and whenever we start a new film, it’s like, “Okay, what did Benji go through this time? What did he go through last time? And how can I build on that?” So yeah, I totally feel like I’m part of the creative process when it comes to Benji.”

It’s a good thing Benji has stuck around this long, too, because Ethan needs all the allies he can get as he goes toe-to-terabyte with the terrifying Entity; a confrontation that we’ll have to wait until next year to see conclude.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is now playing in theaters.

Bad news for people who like to mix their zombies with romantic comedies: There are currently no plans for a Shaun of the Dead sequel. In a recent interview, Star Simon Pegg fervently discounted a follow-up to the surprise hit of 2004.

Speaking with The Guardian while promoting the Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1, Pegg said that although he and writer/director Edgar Wright are definitely planning a fourth team-up following Shaun, Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World’s End (2013), it certainly won’t be Shaun of the Dead 2.

Pegg stated:

“If I ever do an Instagram Live or whatever, people are always like, ‘I need Shaun of the Dead 2 in my life.’ And I’m like, ‘No, you don’t f*****g need Shaun of the Dead 2! The last thing you need is Shaun of the Dead 2! It’s done. Move on!’”

Okay, first of all: Chill, Mr. Pegg. We just like your work. But we’re also on board with Shaun of the Dead being a one-and-done since Hot Fuzz, also starring Pegg and actor Nick Frost, sort of served as an unofficial sequel anyway.

Sure, the story of Shaun doesn’t continue in Hot Fuzz. But the shoot-’em-up parody boasts many of the same cast and similar crash-zoom montages, and it likewise finds ways to brutally murder people who were just making us laugh a moment before. The same goes for The World’s End, an underrated conclusion to the unofficial “Three Flavours Cornetto” trilogy, dubbed after ice cream snacks that we really wish were more common in the U.S.

However, Pegg did mention that he and Wright got together last summer to talk about working on a fourth film together:

“Whatever Edgar and I do next, we’re not going to rely on what we’ve done before. I like the idea of pissing people off. There’s something fun about torching everything. Everything that people think we are, that’s what we won’t be. We should just do something that no one’s expecting. But no one wants!”

Hey, if that kind of thinking gave us classic bits like “You’ve got red on you,” then we’re willing to give Nothing We Expect nor Want the chance it apparently deserves.

Through the likes of Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul, and even The World’s End to a certain extent, a large part of Simon Pegg‘s career saw him wearing his geek credentials proudly on his sleeve, while even his autobiography was quite literally titled Nerd Do Well.

However, now that he’s older, wiser, and a certified Hollywood star, he’s handing in his hip card to move beyond that phase of his life. Of course, the actor isn’t going to simply stop enjoying the things he’s loved for his entire life – or maybe he is, for all we know – but his comments on the nostalgia culture engulfing the entertainment industry in an interview with The Guardian are pretty harsh regardless.

“This culture of infantilised adulthood, all these grown-ass men arguing about f*cking superheroes online, and meanwhile the world is falling apart in so many different ways. And that’s why we will all go to hell. Because no one will grow the f*ck up any more.

Everybody’s so plugged into being a child, you know? I’ve aged out of a lot of what people assume I’m about. I don’t feel like I’m that geeky guy any more, particularly. I don’t have the same interests I had when I was 35 or 40 even. I’d much rather watch Succession than some sci-fi.”

He’s definitely right that nostalgia and fan service is becoming more of a hindrance than a help – as proven by the recent bombing of several high-profile blockbusters – his words are still going to sting an awful lot of people. On the plus side, he doesn’t seem to care in the slightest.

Say what you want about Tom Cruise, but there’s no doubt the action star is committed to his craft. Whether it’s literally jumping out of a plane, climbing the tallest building in the world, or holding his breath underwater for six minutes, he’ll always put in a shift for a role, even if his out-there personality might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

While it’s tempting to think this is all for PR purposes, his co-stars on various film sets have spoken about him having a burning desire that allows him to put himself through these incredible stunts, even as he gets older — something that his Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 castmate Simon Pegg has also been happy to confirm.

While speaking to CNN, the Shaun of the Dead star discussed how COVID affected filming, and how it felt to see Cruise doing all of his insane stunts. He was also sure to mention that there was no recklessness involved and that the Vanilla Sky actor was in fact fastidious about safety when it came to doing the crazy acts he’s become famous for:

“Tom is never reckless with the stunts; with everything he’s always very careful. But that was a challenge. It took much longer than it would normally do. But I think it’s all up there on the screen.”

With this all said, it appears that Cruise does genuinely feel fear when he does these crazy stunts. The actor confirmed that “It’s not that I don’t get scared, it’s that I don’t mind being scared.” Considering how seemingly dangerous some of his latest antics are, including riding a motorbike off a cliff before base jumping six times so that McQuarrie could capture every angle necessary, that’s not the biggest surprise. And it’s not just Cruise who feels the fear: despite having worked with the Eyes Wide Shut star plenty of times previously, the McQuarrie confirmed he was still terrified for his collaborator:

“I was just staring at the crosshairs on the screen, and I was waiting to see blue – blue was the color of his parachute. Once I saw blue, I was just making sure it was a square, because if it wasn’t a square, it meant there was a malfunction. There was no coming back from it…It’s a huge relief when it’s all behind you and everybody’s safe.”

McQuarrie was less forthright when discussing the role of technology in the film industry, though, taking on a more diplomatic tone:

“Like any of the technologies that have been used in previous ‘Mission Impossible’ movies, it’s less about the technology and more about who’s using (it). What we’re presenting here is just what happens when the technology potentially falls into the wrong hands.”

While we can argue about the role of tech in the industry all day when it comes to the actual Mission Impossible film, there’s no doubt that Cruise is vital to its success, something he’s highly aware of, stating: “I strive for excellence. There’s always another story to tell, there’s always another mountain to climb. And I always feel like I can do it better.”

Hopefully, this means we will be seeing more of Ethan Hunt in the future, although even Cruise might not be able to push when he’s a hundred, as Pegg jokingly suggested. But, then again, if anyone can, it’s him.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 will be released in theaters on July 10.

Tom Cruise is no stranger to stunt performance, more often than not opting for taking even the most dangerous challenges head-on, instead of using doubles. Simon Pegg, however, isn’t quite as keen on watching a fellow actor potentially injure himself.

For better or for worse, working with Cruise in the Mission: Impossible franchise implies having to witness him hanging off of trains and jumping off cliffs while riding a motorcycle. Despite how cool it may be to watch it all live, it understandably also comes with a certain amount of anxiety, as Pegg is forced to stand by and hold his breath waiting for confirmation that Cruise is okay.

Speaking with Deadline, the actor opened up about his conflicting emotions during a particular moment during filming for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One:

“I have a video on my phone of the motorcycle stunt, of me from the side. I was stood with Tarzan, Pom and Haley, and I’ve got the whole thing, and I zoom in, and he goes off, and he just disappears. You hear us just go silent as we’re waiting to hear that he’s alive, and then we all just laugh like children, like giddy, ridiculous, insane children, because the relief, I cannot tell you, the relief was amazing.”

While Pegg is constantly worried for Cruise’s life due to his stunt performances, he also makes sure to point out his friend’s commitment to staying safe while working, defending him from those claiming Cruise has to be crazy to do what he does. Whether Pegg likes it or not, it’s unlikely that Cruise will stop doing stunt work anytime soon, so we might as well keep enjoying it.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One lands in movie theaters on July 12, 2023.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is closing in on theaters, determined to take this year’s prize as the most exhausting film title of 2023, although we doubt it will stand much of a chance against Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World in that department.

All kidding aside, it looks like Tom Cruise and company have spent a long, laborious time in the kitchen with this one, and with the leading man’s stunts looking to go further off the chain than ever before, the seventh entry in this long-standing franchise just might be the blockbuster hit of the summer.

At the very least, it’s going to be especially easy to cheer for Ethan Hunt and the rest of his IMF team this time around, as they gear up to to go toe-to-taskbar with artificial intelligence; an adversary that one Simon Pegg, who reprises his role as Hunt’s ally Benji Dunn in the film and who recently spoke to ScreenRant on the topic, considers the perfect antagonist for round seven of the historically timely Mission: Impossible franchise.

When we started making the film, McQ told me about the idea for the villain, and I thought, “This is perfect. This is so Mission: Impossible.” Mission: Impossible’s always been about technology and about masks and gadgets, and this feels like… “Yeah, of course.” But as we were making it, it suddenly became more and more prescient and felt more and more like a reflection of what is happening now in society. To the point where it could be happening now in society, but we don’t know yet.

It’s hard to say exactly how AI will rear its soulless head in the face of Ethan, Benji, and the rest of the gang, but given that the film’s synopsis details the IMF team gunning for a mysterious weapon before it winds up in the hands of an enigmatic new foe, it’s probably safe to say that Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One isn’t going to pull any punches in the realm of topical subtext.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will release in theaters on July 12.

As Eric Kripke and company continue cooking up season four of The Boys, our imaginations are limitless at the thought of how Prime Video’s premier superhero series could one-up itself a third time around, as it has a habit of doing with every ing season; I mean, have you seen “Herogasm”?

Indeed, one thing that’s safe to say for sure is that the fourth round of vigilante shenanigans isn’t going to be for the faint of heart, but those of us that can stomach the blood, gore, and depravity are bound to eat just as well as we always have, if not more.

There’s plenty to already look forward to this season; with the likes of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Rob Benedict, and Elliot Knight ing the cast in undisclosed roles, we’re sure that star power is going to be put to good use. But, also making a grand return to the series is Simon Pegg, who plays Hughie’s father and is set to have a bigger role than he did in the first three seasons. The actor couldn’t be more excited to be reing the The Boys, if a recent interview with Collider is anything to go by.

“You know how crazy The Boys is? It’s gonna get crazier. I had so much fun on that show. It was so great to go back and play Hugh Sr. I love Jack [Quaid]. It was great to work with Rosemarie DeWitt, who plays Hughie’s mom, who comes back. It’s going to be great. You’re gonna love it. I’m in about four episodes, and it was a joy to be back. It’s a great crew.”

Beyond Pegg’s moot confirmation that The Boys will go further over the top than ever before, it will be infinitely interesting to watch his character’s dynamic with Rosemarie DeWitt, who portrays Hughie’s mother; a character we’ve never met before. This particular relationship will no doubt have a big role to play in Hughie’s arc this season, but as for whether or not that will involve the death of his parents, let’s just say that all bets are off when it comes to The Boys.

You have to be at least a little bit unhinged to do the things that Tom Cruise does, especially because he doesn’t have to.

There are literally an army of professional stunt people who make their livings risking their lives for the sake of an action sequence, whereas Cruise is an insanely wealthy A-list superstar under no obligations to jump out of planes, rappel down buildings, engage in high speed car chases, or in the case of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, ride a motorcycle off a cliff and parachute to safety.

Of course, Cruise has been facing accusations that he’s the teensiest bit manic for quite some time, which was exacerbated by the infamous couch-jumping incident on Oprah, but Simon Pegg defended him while simultaneously praising his adherence to safety and dedication to his craft in an interview with ScreenRant.

“Every time we get to the end of a film, I’m always asked, “How can you top this?” And I always reply, “I have no idea.” And then we always do. The fact is Tom and McQ just get their heads together, and Tom suggests something he’s always wanted to do, usually. And then they figure it out.

Tom trains for it; he researches it. He works so hard on doing the stunt, making it as safe as it possibly can be. He’s not reckless in any way. It’s a misnomer to call him crazy because he’s not. He’s very sane when it comes to this kind of stuff. They just ratchet it up again and again. It’s fascinating to watch and truly awe-inspiring that they actually manage to do it. And they will do it again. It is quite extraordinary.”

This is the same Tom Cruise who landed a helicopter in Pegg’s back garden so they could watch movies together, so their bromance isn’t exactly adhering to standard practices. Whether you think he’s crazy or not, you can’t fault the longtime Ethan Hunt for his mindset and desire to entertain the masses by any means necessary.

The Italian capital Rome hosted the world premiere of the long-awaited Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and the red carpet was graced by the presence of the film’s stunning star-studded cast and talented crew, who spoke about its making and the future of the hit spy franchise.

In attendance was Simon Pegg, who has been a part of the Mission: Impossible franchise since 2006, playing Benji Dunn. Speaking about the action, the actor revealed how the cast and crew always seem to be on the edge every time Tom Cruise performs a big stunt, expressing how he’s lucky that his character just stays behind the computer as a technical field agent.

“Tom is jumping off cliffs on a motorbike he’s hanging his you know, hanging off trains — it’s genuinely dangerous stuff. There’s always a sense that, you know, one day, something might go wrong we might lose Tom. Anytime there’s a big stunt, we all have that sense of, you know, fear, but he always pulls it off.”

Initial reviews have commended the franchise for continuing the blockbuster action in its most exhilarating sequences. While addressing the crowd, Cruise gave everyone his sincere love and gratitude for the the saga continues to receive. The legendary star is renowned for his action-packed roles that feature risky stunts which he performs himself.

“Ever since I was a child I used to look at the tallest buildings, the skyscrapers, and imagine how to climb them, or even better, how to get down from the top to the ground. Without using ladders, of course, but also without losing my life, I think it’s that childhood dream that always pushes me further and makes me face these challenges myself.”

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is shot in Venice and Rome in full COVID, which eventually moved to the U.K. after a hiatus. Our hero is set to embark on his most dangerous mission yet: to track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens humanity.

Catch Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One in cinemas on July 12, 2023.