Mission: Impossible's Rebecca Ferguson Sheds More Insight on Wanting to Exit the Franchise

The actor admitted the amount of time spent waiting around on set motivated her decision.

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Mission: Impossible fans were left disappointed last year when Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning featured Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust meeting her demise, though the actor herself has expressed that she supported the decision to leave the franchise. The actor recently opened up about how, while she appreciated her time in the franchise, the overall scale of the series meant that she had to commit a lot of time to filming even if she wasn't actively participating in a shoot, as the ensemble nature left less time for her Ilsa. Speaking more specifically about her character, she also felt like Ilsa was never meant to be another cog in a growing team, which gave her more reason to leave the series behind.

"To speak very clearly -- because I know a lot of people are sad about it, I'm sad about it -- I had filmed three films. My deal was done," Ferguson explained to TheWrap's Unwrapped podcast. "And I love her beyond words. Beyond words. I think she's the most awesome, fantastic character."

She continued, "Ilsa was becoming a team player. And we all can want different things, but for me, Ilsa was rogue. Ilsa was naughty. Ilsa was unpredictable. There was a lot of characters coming in, not leaving enough space for what she had been."

Ilsa debuted in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation as an antagonist to Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt, though the film would result in the pair's agendas becoming aligned. A similar path was explored in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, though that film saw her take an even more prominent role in Hunt's objectives.

"Selfishly, that's a lot of time to make a Mission film. And 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," she continued. "It's dedication. There's a moment where you think it needs to be worth it, not just to love the character and to embrace Tom and [director Christopher McQuarrie] and the story. I want to work, man. I want to work. I don't want to sit in a trailer and know that there's maybe coming a scene in credits."

Ferguson's role in the series also increased her profile in Hollywood and scored her more projects, such as two Dune films from Denis Villeneuve and the Apple TV+ series Silo.

"You have to literally jump when they say jump, and that's why it's amazing. You're highly trained, highly skilled. It is so intoxicatingly exciting when you're rolling, but there's a lot of waiting," Ferguson expressed. "And the more characters that are brought in, the more waiting."

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Stay tuned for updates on the future of the Mission: Impossible franchise.

What do you think of the actor's remarks? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!  

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