. Before she embarked on a global press tour to promote the summer’s most anticipated blockbuster, Atwell got on a call with her friend, the actor James D’Arcy, to talk about preparing for the physically demanding role, why making the movie was the ultimate film school, and the secret behind Tom Cruise’s maniacal running.HAYLEY ATWELL: You look so sophisticated with your wall of books, your culture and your intelligence behind you.D’ARCY: It’s just a front, like the rest of my life.
ATWELL: At one point I was running in the park and Sam said, “Well, they’ve now decided that they’ll have you running beside him,” and I went, “What? On roller skates? How the hell am I going to do that?” But then when they said, “You’ll be in high heels and you’re handcuffed,” I was like, “Okay. Well, I don’t have to catch up with him then. I just have to try and match his energy.” And he’s very safe, so he’s always making sure that I’m not going to fall flat on my face behind him.
D’ARCY: Or you walk onto the set to do the kissing scene and your kissing partner shows up, and they go, “I’m really sorry, I’ve got a terrible cold,” this is pre-COVID, and you’re like, “Okay,” because there’s no way around it.D’ARCY: You basically couldn’t see anybody or go anywhere. You were ferried to the set and back from the set, and then you were in a hotel room.
I always felt like you were quietly thinking about ways to, in the nicest possible way, trip me up, whether that be scaring me at lunchtime or on Halloween. So what I want to know is how long did you have to hide in Tom’s trailer on Halloween in order to scare him, and how did you get in there?D’ARCY: It was literally Mission: Impossible.