Mission: Impossible 7's On The Fly Changes Made Hayley Atwell Feel Alive

2023 has already laid the groundwork to be one of the biggest summers at the movies in years. As if the endless discourse about major upcoming releases like Christopher Nolan's nuclear bomb epic "Oppenheimer" and the witty fun of Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" weren't enough, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is also back at the box office with "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One."

A new addition to the long-running spy series this time around is Hayley Atwell, who plays professional thief and possible Hunt love interest Grace in "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One." Though Atwell is set to return for "Part Two" of the action, and both films are being shot in tandem, she explained to Collider that the evolving nature of the project actually made her feel very invigorated by her work rather than overwhelmed by its scope.

"They go, 'You know what? We thought that idea delivered, but actually, we've come up with something that's far more interesting,'" the actor recalled of the process behind the latest film in the franchise. "That has been naturally born out of a sudden change in location or something that I did that suddenly went, 'You know what? Let's actually have her, in this moment, take a left instead of a right," Atwell went on. "I love working in that way because it feels very alive."

Hayley Atwell also said that there was a huge amount of prep work involved in taking on a project like "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One." Still, she once again commended the team behind the spy sequel by pointing out how intricate and focused they were on making sure they absolutely nail it.

"I think with something with the ambition that they had for this, it was kind of obvious to me that this probably would run over a little bit," Atwell said. "The training alone, before we began shooting, was five months. You also get the sense that they're not going to stop until it's right."

The performer also went on to explain how working in this kind of environment is much more exciting for an actor than a more traditional approach. "If this had been a script that we shot to the book every single day, that didn't change, that was the same, then that takes a different kind of level of patience," she related.

Still, in the end, it sounds like Atwell got everything she wanted and more from the production process behind "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One." "Just the sheer variety of what I was asked to do and had access to learning was so all-encompassing that it's, far beyond the film, really changed my life," the actor concluded. "It's unbelievable."