“I’ll find something to climb,” Tom Cruise told The Observer last night at the US premiere of his new film, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. “There’s always something.” He was talking about turning 50, a fact that means if insurance companies have anything to do with it, Mr. Cruise won’t be scaling buildings for much longer.
“You obviously don’t know Tom Cruise!” enthused Steven Baldwin. “That’s what he does best.”
An enormous red carpet—befitting of the box-office enormity of the film—had been erected in the middle of 54th street outside the Ziegfeld Theater. Traffic was diverted and pedestrians had ringed the tent to stare in, unsure what they were looking for but sure they should be looking. The evening was the climax of the world tour for the film but Mr. Cruise was showing no sign of weariness, in fact, he was relentless in his desire to meet and greet.
The co-writers of the movie, Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec told The Observer that if anything Mr. Cruise was at his most adventurous during filming. “He was ready to do any stunt or any bit of action that we put in front of him. If you see the movie, you’ll see that he went as far as he could…We didn’t have to tone anything down.”
By this time, the rest of the cast was making its way down the carpet. Simon Pegg, the British actor from films like Shaun of the Dead and Run Fat Boy Run also stars in the latest Mission Impossible. How does a career follow a path like that, we wondered? ”J.J. Abrams saw me in it, simple as that, there’s no magic formula.”
Anil Kapoor, Bollywood hero, spoke of his pride at being part of such an international cast, with a great group spirit. So would he be sad now it was over?
“No. I’m enjoying it.”
Finally, after an hour of waiting The Observer had the chance to speak to the star of the film (as well as one of its producers) Mr. Cruise. “I’ve just finished my first musical and I had a blast doing that. I’m making a film right now and I’ve got about three films I’m going to make over the next year and a half. So there’s always something.”
He turned away to finally take his seat, but not before one reporter shouted, “Is there anything impossible for you Mr. Cruise?
“Getting into the film apparently.”
hkrempels@observer.com
