'Mission: Impossible 2' Star Thandie Newton Says She Was "Never Asked" Back After "Surreal" Tom Cruise Experience
Mission: Impossible 2 star Thandie Newton has claimed that she was "never asked" to appear in the franchise again and said that she had a "nightmare" working on one scene with her co-star Tom Cruise.
Speaking during an extensive interview with Vulture, Newton, who played Nyah Nordoff-Hall in the second M:I movie in 2000, said that the reason she never starred in the franchise again was because she was never asked back.
She also opened up about a difficult experience she had filming a night scene with Cruise, who plays Mission: Impossible's central character Ethan Hunt.
Related video: Thandie Newton plays pop quiz
"I was so scared of Tom," she said. "He was a very dominant individual. He tries super hard to be a nice person. But the pressure. He takes on a lot. And I think he has this sense that only he can do everything as best as it can be done.
"There was one time, we were doing this night scene... And I don't think it was a very well-written scene. I get angry with him. We're frustrated with each other. And we're looking out over Spain. It wasn't going well."
She added that Cruise "was not happy" with what she was doing in the scene "because I had the shittiest lines".
"And he gets so frustrated with having to try and explain that he goes, 'Let me just – let's just go do it. Let's just rehearse on-camera.' So we rehearsed and they recorded it, and then he goes, 'I'll be you. You be me.' So we filmed the entire scene with me being him – because, believe me, I knew the lines by then – and him playing me.
"And it was the most unhelpful... I can't think of anything less revealing. It just pushed me further into a place of terror and insecurity. It was a real shame. And bless him. And I really do mean bless him, because he was trying his damnedest."
Newton revealed that after filming had finished for the night, she phoned director Jonathan Demme (who was not involved with the film) and told him the shoot had been "a nightmare."
"As I was describing it, it was clear that I thought I was the big f--king problem. And Jonathan was like, 'Thandie, shame on you for not backing yourself.' He was really sweet. And then Tom called and I thought, 'Oh, this is it. The apology.' No, he was just like, 'We're going to reshoot this next week.' I'm like, 'Way brilliant.'
"And the next time we shot it, I went in there and I just basically manifested all the – because I realized what he wanted. He just wanted this alpha bitch. And I did as best as I could. It's not the best way to get the best work out of someone. He wasn't horrible. It was just – he was really stressed."
Calling the experience "surreal," she added that she had "the most extraordinary time" working on the movie and revealed that Cruise's wife at the time, actress Nicole Kidman, had been "a huge advocate" for her getting the role.
Digital Spy has reached out to reps for Tom Cruise for comment.
Cruise is currently working on Mission: Impossible 7 and 8, with filming on the action sequels planned to resume in September after production was shut down by the coronavirus pandemic.
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