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Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible Costars Give Rare Glimpse Into His Generous On-Set Personality

By Brett Malec Jun 21, 2023 10:12 PMTags
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Watch: Mission Impossible Stars Gush Over Working With Tom Cruise

There's no one in Hollywood—or the world for that matter—like Tom Cruise. Just ask any of his Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One costars.

In fact, Simon Pegg, who has known Cruise since first working together in 2006's Mission: Impossible III, revealed that behind his movie star status, the 60-year-old is the most caring co-worker he's ever had.

"Of all the mist of stuff that's around him, in the center of that mist is a generous, sweet guy who looks after everybody," Pegg exclusive told E! News' Chief Correspondent Keltie Knight on the June 21 episode (airing tonight at 11 p.m. on E!). "He leads from the top down. And he's kind of inspiring to be around. There's no one else like him, he's the last movie star of the old kind."

Pegg even revealed Cruise has been just as warm and friendly since the moment they were first introduced nearly two decades ago.

"When I first met him, it was my first time to Hollywood," he noted. "He came to set the first day we met, he immediately made me feel very welcome, very at home, was incredibly generous."

As Pegg stressed, the Top Gun: Maverick star couldn't be grounded—despite his star power.

"Over the 17 years that we've been friends, I feel lucky to get to see a part of him that everyone else wants to see, which is just the guy," Pegg continued. "And he is just a guy. He's an extraordinary guy. He's a guy who feels the obligation to the audience to risk his life for them to kind of entertain them."

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While costar Hayley Atwell is new to the Mission: Impossible franchise, the actress admitted she already knew how good of an acting partner the Risky Business star is.

"I had read with Tom before, I knew that he was very present," Atwell told E!, "he was very professional and he goes out of the way to make sure anyone around him in working capacity makes them feel very safe."

For Vanessa Kirby, she calls working with Cruise "equal parts inspired and terrified."

Stefania M. D'Alessandro/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

"I think that's the state everybody's in because it's like jumping off of a cliff with a motorcycle," she shared, referencing Cruise's own Mission: Impossible stunt. "I think it requires a real level of commitment and passion and turning up and care. It's just a beautiful way of working."

Pom Klementieff agreed. "There's also so much trust," the Guardians of the Galaxy star chimed in. "We have so much trust in him and [director] Christopher McQuarrie. They just set the bar so high that we also need to step up our game even more so it's makes everyone better too."

Watch the video above for more Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One scoop, including the cast's reaction to Cruise's death-defying motorcycle stunt in the new film.

Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One is in theaters July 12.

Watch E! News weeknights Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m., only on E!.