Every time a new Mission: Impossible movie comes out, director and writer Christopher McQuarrie sits down for a lengthy chat with Empire. The first episode in the Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One episode (all 3.5 hours of it) just dropped, and there’s a lot of good stuff, including how the cast risked their lives for a scene that was ultimately cut from the film.
“It was supposed to be something we did with a resettable rig where everything could be very predictable, and nothing we did worked, and ultimately the actors had to risk their lives and do it practically,” McQuarrie said. He didn’t reveal what the stunt entailed, other than it was going to be during the thrilling third-act train sequence:
“With the train, I kept thinking, ‘Is this the shot?’ And we kept pulling and we kept getting the note, and eventually we identified what it was… The work that went into what was holding back the sequence was extraordinary – it was days, and it was a struggle, and it was very, very risky. We took it out, and the scene just sang.”
Tom Cruise would have fought for the scene to be kept in, but it was only “very, very risky,” not “very, very, very risky.” That’s more his style.
You can listen to the podcast (which requires a subscription) here.
(Via Empire)