Original ‘Mission: Impossible’ Star Henry Czerny Is Glad His First ‘Dead Reckoning’ Scene Was Cut (Exclusive)

The Mission: Impossible franchise has gone to new heights over the last 27 years, but Dead Reckoning Part One returned to its roots to bring back a welcomed blast from the past.

"I was in Los Angeles, doing my errands, you know, the usual thing that middle-class people do, and I got a call that [director] Christopher McQuarrie wanted to talk to me about bringing the guy back," Henry Czerny tells The Messenger of reprising Ethan Hunt's original antagonist, IMF Director Eugene Kittridge. "I've lived a lot, gone through a lot, learned a lot, and so has Kittridge, so let's put them together."

Czerny first starred as Kittridge for director Brian De Palma in 1996's Mission: Impossible, in which super spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is suspected by Kittridge of being a mole. The head of the IMF spends the film chasing after Hunt, eventually leading to a climactic sequence on a train, which Dead Reckoning Part One also pulls off in a full-circle nod. After Czerny sat out the previous five outings, the new installment from McQuarrie puts Kittridge back in the mix as he sends Ethan on a mission that will find our hero facing off against his scariest villain yet: artificial intelligence.

In an interview conducted before SAG-AFTRA officially went on strike, Czerny talks reuniting with Cruise, trying to understand the Kittridge fan club, and hearing that Part Two is even "better" than the universally-beloved Part One.

The Messenger: Here you are, 27 years later, promoting a new Mission: Impossible movie — does this all still feel a bit surreal?

HENRY CZERNY: Not surreal; it feels very real and wonderful. Of course, it's something you never expected to happen until I got the call in January of 2020, and that was about 25 years to the day that I got the first call from Tom and Brian De Palma. This time, I was in Los Angeles, doing my errands, you know, the usual thing that middle-class people do, and I got a call that Christopher McQuarrie wanted to talk to me about bringing the guy back —and I thought that was was a brilliant idea. I've lived a lot, gone through a lot, learned a lot, and so has Kittridge, so let's put them together.

When you get that call from McQuarrie, do you have immediate questions, or are you in, no questions asked?

Oh yeah, I had questions. "So, what do you want to do when you bring him back?" And he was location scouting on one of the many beautiful bridges in Venice, and he basically said, 'Well, this script is kind of fluid; that's the way we do it here. And I'd like you to come, and we can build an arc for the character." Given that it's Chris McQuarrie, why wouldn't you say yes to that?

Have you thought a lot over the years about what path Kittridge went down?

No, not until I talked with McQuarrie, and then I got to work trying to figure out what he did. And I came up with the backstory for him that, after being schooled by Ethan on the train, he went and circled back through all the agencies that he could, the FBI, CIA, Secret Service, Department of National Intelligence, to learn more deeply about what the heck is going on, why people are doing what they're doing, what we're about, and how best to use whatever talents Kittridge had. And so we have a much graver, world-wise Kittridge facing Ethan, and I think both of them have been through a ton over the 25 years. You know what Ethan's been through; you watched it for six, now seven iterations, if you're smart.

Because of the pandemic, it took longer than expected after you got that call to start filming. What was it like once you were finally back working opposite Tom?

It's a bit weird. The first moment on set was not with Tom; it was in Norway, getting into a helicopter and being whisked away from the train, and it's not even in the film. But the first day was a little shaky, and I'm glad it didn't fit into the film. A first day is always first day; even Sir Anthony Hopkins will say that. You work, you study up, action's called, and there's a certain ease of memory of that, but it's first day, so it's like a bunch of cats getting together. There's stuff happening that you're not aware of in your bodies, where everybody's kind of joining everybody else's energy to a certain extent. But, after a couple of days, it felt great to bring him back.

That's interesting because when you first show up onscreen in that meeting where all government officials are being briefed on the Entity, I was like, "Wow, I feel like I've been with Kittridge for the last 25 years."

Yeah, well, when you see Kittridge the first time, that was like a month and a half into shooting, and so I'd settled in by the time he shows up onscreen. And I loved him inhabiting his skin again and bringing a more world-weary version. In the first one, he's more righteous, and, in this one, he's a little more, Humanity has had a lot of choices here, and this is where we're going. Okay, I'll play my part in it, but, to tell you the truth, I'm not thrilled with this.

Ethan infiltrates that scene between the various agency heads, leading to a one-on-one showdown between him and Kittridge, and you have this meaty monologue that sets the tone for what's to come in the film. A sequence like that has to be an actor's dream, right?

Yes, it is. I mean, even in the first one, they filled Kittridge's mouth with some really terrific biting and well-scribed dialogue. And it was a pleasure sitting in that and having that come through me opposite Tom, who's very committed, very focused. On camera, off camera — he is always there and totally present. So there's less acting required and more embodiment allowed. And when I'm acting opposite Tom, I'm not acting opposite a superstar, although he has that aura about him. When action's called, you settle in, you're doing it, and you're talking to Ethan.

There seems to be a real Kittridge hive out there. Have you noticed this, and what do you attribute his following to?

I love it — and I have no idea. People claim that I have this [Christopher] Walken-esque cadence, and it's just a love of language and making sure when you're talking to Ethan that he understands exactly how grave the situation is. And if you do that, that's the way it comes out of me. Kittridge is darn serious about what's going on, and so each word has a history to it. He chooses his words very carefully to get his points across. He's loquacious but also very precise. That might have something to do with that. I don't know, but I'll take it. I love that people love the character.

Considering how Part One concludes, can we confirm that you're locked in for Part Two?

You'll have to watch it to find out. They cut and paste, so I'm not sure what's going on there. They have been shooting, and the scuttlebutt is, somehow, eight feels even better. I don't know how that's possible, but these guys seem to be getting better and better.

With Tom recently saying that he wants to keep making these movies until he's at least 80 years old, are you ready for the possibility that Kittridge will span 50 years of your life?

Yes, yes, yes! If he wants Kittridge around, I want to dig around and bring to this franchise whatever Kittridge doesn't know about himself yet. It's been a great ride.