Simon Pegg Is Grateful His Mission Impossible Character Stays Behind The Computer
At this point, the "Mission: Impossible" franchise is practically synonymous with highly dangerous stuntwork, life-threatening situations, and other assorted feats of derring-do. Leading the charge, as always, is star and producer Tom Cruise, who only seems to take more chances with his life the older he becomes. This time around, in the latest "M:I" installment dubbed "Dead Reckoning — Part One," Cruise as IMF Agent Ethan Hunt drives a motorcycle off a cliff, and that's just for starters.
That doesn't mean his co-stars take the same gambles with their lives, or that they're even required to. The character of Benji Dunn, played with charming aplomb by Simon Pegg in every "M:I" film since 2006's "Mission: Impossible III," is someone who emphatically avoids putting himself in danger as much as possible. It's his nervousness at the feats of Ethan Hunt that provides such a winning counterpoint (as well as audience identification) to Cruise jumping off motorbikes and crashing helicopters and the like.
As it turns out, that quality of Benji's isn't hard to come by for Pegg. The actor recently admitted that, just as his character does on-screen, he's often finding himself worrying for his co-worker Cruise's safety and is super glad to be playing someone who doesn't like to jump off cliffs.
Cruise may get the glory, but Pegg is the 'lucky' one
At the premiere of "Dead Reckoning — Part One" in Rome this past Monday, Simon Pegg told Deadline that his abstinence from the franchise's biggest stunt moments is a great byproduct of playing Benji. He also described just how nail-biting Tom Cruise's stunts are for the cast and crew, let alone the audience:
"You know, I'm lucky because Benji just kind of stays behind the computer and he does his thing. Tom is jumping off cliffs on a motorbike, he's hanging his, you know, hanging off trains — it's genuinely dangerous stuff. There's always a sense that, you know, one day, something might go wrong, we might lose Tom, you know. Anytime there's a big stunt, we all have that sense of, you know, fear, but he always pulls it off."
In spy movie terms, Benji is the Q to Ethan's James Bond, the tech guru who outfits the hero spy with the info and the gear he needs to get the job done. One of the joys of Benji's character that was established right from his first appearance in "Mission: Impossible III," however, is that his information and tech tend to be a little unreliable — from giving Ethan a faulty sticky glove in "Ghost Protocol" to leading him astray while he tears through London in "Fallout," Benji inadvertently heightens the danger for Ethan rather than lessens it. It's part of the character's ironic humor, especially given that both the character and the actor can't stand seeing his friend in trouble: "I find it best not to look," he says while Ethan jumps onto a helicopter in "Fallout," a line that clearly has multiple meanings behind it.
Benji's not just 'behind the computer' any more
Although Benji is never going to be hanging onto the side of a plane while it takes off like Ethan does, it's erroneous to say that he's simply planted behind a computer screen like he was during the entirety of the third "Mission: Impossible" film. Ever since "Ghost Protocol," Benji has been more and more seen in the field, to the point where he's now an integral and trusted member of Hunt's IMF team.
That's a growth that Simon Pegg himself is well aware of. Speaking to Moviefone in 2018, he observed how Benji has become a bit more of an action man:
"Every time we see him, he's moved on a little bit. He's been through more. And he's still the same guy, he's still the audience's way into this insane world. He's still very much our way of relating to it, because he's the guy that says 'What!?' all the time. But he's definitely more capable than he was before. He's better at his job."
From rescuing William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) in "Ghost Protocol," to going one-on-one with franchise mega-baddie Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) in "Fallout," Benji has only become more bold and physical with each film. If the "Mission: Impossible" franchise does indeed continue beyond "Dead Reckoning — Part Two," as director Christopher McQuarrie claims it will, who knows; perhaps it'll soon be Benji jumping off those cliffs right alongside Ethan.