Original-Cin Q&A: Henry Czerny on his first Mission: Impossible Mission Since '96
By Bonnie Laufer
In a summer starved for box office blockbusters, Tom Cruise is once again being called upon to save Hollywood. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One, directed by Christopher McQuarrie, sees Cruise return as agent Ethan Hunt.
And it sees the return of a familiar face who’s been AWOL from the action series for almost 30 years.
Toronto’s own veteran actor Henry Czerny is back as Eugene Kittridge, who debuted in 1996's Mission: Impossible as the Director of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force). After wrongfully accusing Ethan Hunt of being a mole, however, he disappeared from the franchise.
Now he’s back and no one is happier about that than the actor himself.
The Impossible Mission Force is with Henry Czerny - again.
Our Bonnie Laufer caught up with Henry Czerny to wax philosophical about being back in the franchise.
CLICK HERE to read John Kirk’s review of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One.
ORIGINAL-CIN: Henry, it's great to see you and Eugene Kittridge back. I wanted to know what it was like to slip back into Kittridge’s shoes, because they're a little older, more worn in, right?
HENRY CZERNY: Yes, they're a little older, a little wiser, a little worn-out shoes. (Laughs).
Over the 25 years he's gone through a few pairs. But boy, was it great to return to this role. He's clearly more mature, a little wiser, and it's a deeper relationship that he has with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in this one. It's more complex.
O-C: I felt a little on the edge with Kittredge, like I wasn't quite sure if I could trust him. Do you trust Kittridge at this point in his career?
CZERNY: Yes, I think we can trust him. It all depends on what he's being asked to do. On some level, I would trust him because of what he's learned, because of what he's been through.
I looked at him as someone who understands how the world is working. He's clearly not happy with what he's learned. He would love for it to work in a different way. He loves what Ethan is striving for. He just doesn't like that Ethan is the one guy in control.
Cruise and Czerny in the original Mission: Impossible
O-C: Speaking of control, Tom Cruise has steered yet another one into blockbuster position.
CZERNY: That’s an understatement!
O-C: With seven of these under his belt, he kind of knows what he's doing with this franchise. But my God, what he continues to do in these films completely blows my mind. Do you ever just sit back, watch him go, and say to yourself, “Holy mackerel, is this guy real?”
CZERNY: Yeah,all the time. He's totally real and works very, very hard. He loves doing it and he loves providing it.
It's like watching a Master Chef making these films. We understand what goes into making that little dish, how many dishes they tried, how many years they've been trying to pair the different ingredients and what they've removed from the dish to allow you to have this fantastic three-tiered taste in your mouth from a little spoon.
Well, that's what Tom does. That's what the films do. That's what (director) Christopher McQuarrie does. They film a lot and don’t apologize or compromise. They've reduced it to perfection and this is the sauce you have. So every second is flavorful. Every pixel is flavorful. So I implore people to watch it on the big screen to get that full flavor.
Tom loves doing this so much that he’ll go back and reshoot and reshoot and reshoot. Or they'll adjust it so that it’s exactly how he wants it to look and feel. He doesn’t want to lose the audience's attention for one second. He wants to give them that Michelin Star meal.
ORIGINAL-CIN: Do you ever get just a little jealous that you can't get on that motorcycle and drop off a cliff?
CZERNY: Absolutely not, because this is as wide an experience as I want to make it. I’m happy to be back in the role after all of these years with my feet on the ground. If I'm not seeing it as wide, I'm not looking widely enough.