Nearly 30 years of developing the ‘Mission: Impossible’ brand, many women have walked side by side with Tom Cruise on the journey to solve the difficult task.
In the latest movie ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ (Mission: Impossible: Karma – Part 1), Grace (Hayley Atwell) joins the beauties accompanying Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). She is a clever female thief, becoming an important link in the mission of the entire IMF team. Teaming up with Tom Cruise, Hayley brings many fresh and funny moments to the film.
She also shows the ability to perform stunts. Hayley said that to prepare for the racing segment in Rome, she spent 5 months practicing the technique of drifting. When recording, the actress’s vision was limited by three cameras mounted on the car’s windshield. Manipulation was also difficult because her hands were cuffed with Tom Cruise’s hands. However, it was this difficulty that allowed Hayley to stay focused and complete the scene safely.
Starring in the ‘Mission: Impossible’ trilogy, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) is one of the most interesting female characters in the entire franchise. After her debut in ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’, she continued to play an important role in the sequels. Ilsa is an MI6 double agent. At first, she made it difficult for Ethan and his teammates. After the truth is revealed, Ilsa accompanies the group to solve many impossible tasks.
With her sharp blue eyes, Rebecca displayed the image of a cold woman with firm fighting movements. Witnessing Tom Cruise perform the action scenes herself, the actress plunged into a strict training regime for a month to prepare for the risky segments.
Rebecca said she overcame her fear of heights when she made a free fall from more than 116 meters. While filming the movie ‘Fallout’, even though she was pregnant, the actress still performed strong fighting scenes by herself. Before ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’, Swedish beauties mainly worked on the European silver screen. After the huge success of the film, she appeared in many major Hollywood productions, including the blockbuster ‘Dune’.
Along with Ilsa Faust, Alanna Mitsopolis (White Widow) played by Vanessa Kirby, is the rare female character to return to the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise, after making her debut in the ‘Fallout’ movie. Alanna is an arms dealer and child of the villain Ethan faced in the first movie.
With the achievement of “Best Actress” at the Venice Film Festival and an Oscar nomination, Vanessa shows the intelligence and sharpness of an illegal activist disguised as charity. The British star clearly portrays this character’s power and strategic mind through the slow release of words and a deliberate pose.
Although there are not as many real battle scenes as other girls, the actress still practices hard jogging with a personal trainer, in order not to be exhausted with a dense filming schedule. In the latest part ‘Mission: Impossible 7’, she transformed into two identities of Alanna at the same time. In addition to the powerful look, the audience also witnessed the image of the White Widow embarrassed by many worries.
Appearing in the first part of ‘Mission: Impossible’, Claire Phelps played by actress Emmanuelle Béart impresses the audience with her wise appearance. Claire is a member of the IMF and the wife of its director. After Ethan Hunt is accused of killing his teammates, she is the only female character to accompany him.
Claire has the smart, quick thinking of a female spy. Behind that, she shows complex psychology and mysterious behavior. Before participating in ‘Mission: Impossible’, Emmanuelle Béart was a famous French actress in many indigenous films.
She auditioned for the role of Claire with Tom Cruise in an apartment building. With a small body, the actress showed a strong aura when she did not hesitate to hold the actor close to the wall and point the gun to her temple. This helps Emmanuelle to immediately make an impression on Tom. Later, she returned to work in the domestic market instead of turning completely to Hollywood.
Nyah Nordoff-Hall is the female character appearing in part 2. She is a skilled thief, chosen by the IMF to act as a bridge between Ethan and the main villain Sean Ambrose. With honey skin and sharp eyes, beauty Thandie Newton embodies the image of an independent woman who is not afraid of challenges.
Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise’s wife at the time, was the one who introduced her to the role. However, the actor still did not respect and openly criticized when Thandie did not perform the scenes. She said that the process of working with Tom was a “nightmare”, but not because of the actor’s personality, but from the high concentration and pressure of filming.
‘Mission: Impossible 3’ marks the appearance of two female characters accompanying Ethan Hunt on both fronts. Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan) is Ethan’s fiancee and doctor, giving him a lot of motivation to fight. She is the only person who can control Ethan, and is the one who makes the IMF agent repeatedly risk his life to protect.
Michelle Monaghan portrays the intellectual beauty of her character through her eyes and gestures. In 2011, she returned to the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise in a small segment, creating excitement for fans. Michelle said she is very proud to be invited back in the following films to complete the story of the character that has helped her career flourish.
After the role of Michelle Yeoh in the James Bond work ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, Maggie Q is the next actress to contribute to the Asian soul in a Hollywood spy movie. The star with two Vietnamese and American bloodlines transforms into Zhen Lei, another special agent of the IMF, tasked with supporting male agents in the Vatican and Shanghai. While Julia acts as a catalyst for Ethan’s actions, Zhen is the one who directly accompanies him on his quest.
In addition to the bold Asian look, Maggie Q smoothly combines the softness and toughness of Asian martial arts into the action segments. During filming, when she was still a little-known name, she was assigned to a small resting place. However, Tom Cruise is the one who personally fought for Maggie Q to have a more spacious place, like the other members. After ‘Mission: Impossible 3’, the actress made a global mark when starring in the TV series ‘Nikita’ revolving around the female assassin of the same name.
Jane Carter (Paula Patton) is the shadow next to Ethan Hunt in ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’. She is also an agent of the IMF, accompanying Team Ethan to track down and neutralize a code that activates nuclear weapons. At the same time, Jane also longs to confront the man who murdered her boyfriend.
With a strong physique, Paula Patton shows powerful blows and cold eyes. In many dangerous situations, the actress showed the calmness and ability to control emotions of a well-trained spy. Paula shared that she joined the project right after giving birth. Within 5 months, the actress practiced hard 6 days a week, every day for two and a half hours continuously. Despite the difficulties, she remained motivated and refused to give up.
