Movies - TV
Martin Landau Was Blunt About Not Reprising His Mission: Impossible Role
By MIKE SHUTT
Martin Landau refused to reprise his role as Rollin Hand from the TV show “Mission: Impossible” in the 1996 film adaptation of the series because of a story idea he disagreed with.
One of the more shocking elements of the first “Mission: Impossible” movie is that, in the first act, nearly all of Ethan Hunt's team is killed in a mission gone wrong.
In the original conception of this shocking twist, the dying characters were supposed to be the original team from the TV show, which would have included Landau’s character.
Speaking with MTV News back in 2009, Landau said, “They wanted the entire team to be destroyed, done away with one at a time, and I was against that.”
Landau disapproved of the film adaptation’s tonal shift. He added, “It was basically an action-adventure movie and not ‘Mission.’ [...] So the whole texture changed.”
The actor also objected to how Hunt’s team was being depicted to die, saying, “Why volunteer to essentially have our characters [die by] suicide? I passed on it.”
As the “Mission: Impossible” franchise progressed, the importance of the team became its core, but Landau said he wouldn't come in “unless it was a great part” and not a cameo.