A Mission: Impossible Scene Changed Because Tom Cruise & Alec Baldwin Were 'Blind With Pain'
Anyone who has seen "Mission: Impossible – Fallout" remembers the film's big antagonist reveal scene. CIA operative August Walker (Henry Cavill), known best for beating up goons in bathrooms and reloading his muscles, is unveiled to be none other than John Lark, an extremist in cahoots with terrorist mastermind Solomon Lane (Sean Harris). This pivotal scene is preceded by an equally tense sequence, where IMF Secretary Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin) accuses Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) of being Lark, and the two engage in a heated discussion about the mission and the stakes at hand. While this scene flows pretty naturally after the intense action that precedes it, there were practical reasons behind the zoomed-in focus on Hunt and Hunley's faces, who were seen leaning against the table during the scene.
There's a lot to glean from the film's audio commentary, where Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie talk at length about Easter eggs, callbacks, and behind-the-scenes tidbits that helped shape or alter certain scenes. While talking about the safehouse confrontation between Hunt and Hunley, McQuarrie and Cruise explained why this particular scene had to be switched up a little, as both actors were in excruciating physical pain due to separate reasons. This revelation adds fresh layers to the Hunt-Hunley confrontation, which feels so on edge and visceral for a reason, with the deliberate blocking adding more weight to the personal nature of this rift that spills into the professional.
While Hunt had famously sustained injuries after breaking his ankle during a rooftop stunt where his character chased Cavill's Walker/Lark, Baldwin had recently undergone a double hip replacement operation, which made moving about constantly painful. Here's what Cruise and McQuarrie had to say about making the scene work despite these unfortunate factors.
The power of skillful blocking
In the commentary, McQuarrie also talked about the sequence in which Hunt meets The White Widow (Vanessa Kirby), which had to be filmed across a month as Cruise had sustained the broken ankle injury in between. While McQuarrie had a tough time finding the same extras and making things look cohesive in terms of continuity, the safehouse confrontation was fairly easier to work around, although both Cruise and Baldwin had to grit their teeth and push through the pain. Cruise explained how he "couldn't even walk because [they had] done the running the day before and [he] couldn't walk" because of the snapped ankle.
This meant that Hunt couldn't charge up to Hunley or make any sudden moves that involved dramatic gestures or moving around, which led McQuarrie to rely on some smart blocking techniques and let the scene unfurl around the two men:
"So here Tom has a broken foot and had finished the foot chase the day before, and Alec is overdue for a double hip replacement to come and shoot this scene ... And by the way, to understand the pain of a hip replacement, it is like having a knife stuck in your hip when your hip is given out like that. And Tom is absolutely blind with pain. He had finished the foot chase on an ankle he had broken five months before, and that's why I blocked this scene the way that I did. I was like, 'Okay, I've got an idea, how about you don't walk in this scene. Let's have this whole scene happen around you.'"
Thanks to the power of blocking and a well-placed table, McQuarrie was able to craft a compelling scene about trust and betrayal even when the circumstances weren't ideal. Now that's solid filmmaking.