The Mission: Impossible franchise has been taking up a lot of time in a lot of careers, especially lately. M:I - Dead Reckoning took years to complete, and Tom Cruise and company went from that right into filming The Final Reckoning. One co-star who, as far as we know, didn't need to return was Rebecca Ferguson, and as much as she says she loved playing Elsa in the franchise, it seems she may be glad she’s done. In fact, her comments also highlight a problem when it comes to the franchise attracting talent.
Rebecca Ferguson’s character, Ilsa, died at the end of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, which means that unless she appears in flashbacks, she won’t be part of the next film when the The Final Reckoning's release date arrives next year. Speaking with The Wrap, she indicates that’s maybe not a terrible thing, as the movies are so big, and her part is so small. She explained…
Unless you’re going to have a lot of screen time, that’s a lot of time sitting around waiting to film a huge movie that could take over a year to film. I want to work. I don’t want to sit in a trailer and know that there’s me becoming a scene in credit. This is what happens with Mission because it’s so extravagant and they don’t really have scripts. You have to literally jump when they say jump.
Throughout the M:I movies Ferguson has been part of, the size of Ilsa’s role has been varied, but certainly nobody in the movie gets as much screen time as Tom Cruise. Everybody else plays a supporting role, which means that they spend a lot of time waiting for their next scene.
The smaller roles, combined with the generally extended shooting schedule, make things potentially difficult for Ferguson, and one assumes other actors as well. That's because it means they can’t necessarily take other projects that come along because they have to be available when the Mission: Impossible shooting schedule needs them. And, since Ferguson points out the scripts for these movies are often in flux, the actors don’t even know when that will be. Ferguson continued…
There’s a lot of waiting. And the more characters that are brought in, the more waiting. So when you come with another offer you have to sit down and weigh, ‘I have other offers on the table, other things coming in.’
With all of that in mind, this is indeed an issue for this beloved franchise. One would think that actors might be aware of the professional constraints that come with being a part of such a massive IP. So just think about how many stars the series has theoretically missed out on because of that.
One assumes the cast of Mission: Impossible movies probably get paid pretty well, which would certainly help being locked into the movie and being unable to take other jobs. However, in Ferguson’s case, she wants to do the work.
Whether or not there will be more Mission: Impossible movies in the future is unclear, the subtitle The Final Reckoning would seem to indicate this might be the end of Tom Cruise’s character, but, if there are more films, the shooting schedule, reduced window for other gigs and more should be considered by other actors before they say yes.