Simon Pegg reflects on ‘bittersweet' ending of Mission: Impossible with The Final Reckoning
The 55-year-old actor has portrayed I.M.F (Impossible Mission Force) technician Benji Dunn in the action franchise from 2006's 'Mission: Impossible III', and has now admitted it is "strange" to see the franchise be sunsetted with 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning'.
Speaking with Collider, Pegg said: "It's strange. It's bittersweet, is the best way I can describe it.
"It's been such a ride. It's been such an amazing experience. I feel grateful, and I feel sad, and I'm excited for people to see this movie. I mean, what an incredible wrapping up."
The 'Hot Fuzz' star added director Christopher McQuarrie - who has helmed the series from 2015's 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation' - "has done such an incredible job" of building on what has come before, and crafting the story of Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise).
Pegg continued: "[McQuarrie] has done such an incredible job embracing everything that's gone before and pulling it into this movie as a kind of culmination of all Ethan's choices.
"I don't think there could be a better way to go out."
Reflecting on his favourite moments from the series, Pegg revealed he never thought he would be involved in so many major action sequences in the 'Mission: Impossible' franchise.
He said: "I drove a speedboat up the River Seine, which was so much fun. They basically closed the River Seine for me.
"There's a lot of aqua. In fact, it's all water-related. I drove a water taxi through Venice, and I rescued, or rather retrieved, Sean Harris from a submerged armored car wearing a rebreather, which is different to scuba.
"So, every day on 'Mission' is like that. Bombing through Casablanca in a battered BMW, being up there on the mountain watching Tom do that stunt where he jumped off a cliff. I mean, it's one of those jobs."
Pegg's Benji Dunn will join Cruise's Ethan Hunt and the rest of his I.M.F. team - as portrayed by Hayley Atwell and Ving Rhames - in 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning', which will follow the agents as they desperately try to stop an all-powerful artificial intelligence known as The Entity from causing a nuclear apocalypse.
Pegg recently teased Cruise's stunts in 'The Final Reckoning' "just beggar belief".
Speaking on a panel at AwesomeCon about 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning', he said: "For me, it was my favourite of the six 'Missions' that I filmed. It was my favourite to shoot.
"We were in the Arctic; we were in South Africa. The stunts Tom is doing just beggar belief. I mean, really, really dumb s***."
The 'Shaun of the Dead' actor added that his 62-year-old co-star was always "incredibly focused" and "incredibly careful" during his death-defying stunts.
Pegg continued: "A lot of people say, 'Is he mad?' But he's not. He's incredibly focused, and he's incredibly careful when it comes to those stunts.
"He rehearses and trains, but he does it because he actually cares so much about the cinematic experience for the audience, he will literally risk his life. Which he does, again and again, and it's kind of more inspiring to watch."
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