With Tom Cruise once again front and centre, this is an action film that even had its experienced cast on edge during filming.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is the seventh in the hit franchise, and sees Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team embark on their most dangerous mission yet.

With that came one of the most deadly stunts the blockbuster actor has ever pulled off.

The latest instalment was filmed during the pandemic, which meant the cast was often alone in once-bustling locations – but it also meant they quickly became friends.

“Venice was completely empty because of COVID,” French actor Pom Klementieff told The New Daily, sitting with co-star Simon Pegg in Sydney on Sunday, before Monday’s premiere.

Pegg is once again stepping into his role as Benji Dunn, while Klementieff stars as an assassin, Paris, who hunts Hunt and Hayley Atwell’s character, Grace, in the action-packed film.

“The beginning was a mixed blessing in a way,” Pegg said.

“There’s nothing good about COVID, obviously, but we were forced to kind of all bubble up together and I say forced – that’s what we did – but it meant there was a very swift bonding period for the new cast and we all sort of, you know, came together.”

Simon Pegg and Pom Klementieff in Sydney to promote the new Mission: Impossible.

Latest Mission: Impossible ‘exhilarating’

The mission this time around?

“To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands,” Paramount’s synopsis says.

Without spoiling the movie, the plot happens to be very timely and relevant to conversations the globe has been having this year.

However, the script, written by director Christopher McQuarrie and Erik Jendresen years ago, was ahead of its time.

The plot offers something to ponder, but the cast thinks audiences will enjoy the thrilling ride it offers, as with any of the other Mission: Impossible films.

“You’re on the edge of your seat, for sure,” Klementieff said.

“It flies by because of that – the pace of it is so relentless,” Pegg said.

“Even for us watching it, knowing what happens, it’s exhilarating.”

Tom’s death-defying stunt

Long before the movie even came out there was chatter about a stunt Cruise had pulled off for the film, which included him riding off a cliff on a motorbike.

Watching the behind-the-scenes of that stunt was stressful enough, but the whole cast was on edge, making sure Cruise didn’t come to a tragic end.

“We were in Norway, and he did it maybe seven or eight times in front of us. The motorcycle cliff job was beautiful and insane,” Klementieff said.

“When you watch the movie, it’s thrilling, but you know, he [Cruise] survived. We didn’t know if he was going to survive,” Pegg added.

It wasn’t just Cruise who did his own tricks and stunts in the film. Atwell trained for weeks to prepare herself for fight scenes and she also trained with a magician.

She explained the magician was on hand to help her practise running a coin over her knuckles so she could perfect the sleight of hand tricks on camera.

Her character, Grace, happens to not only be a gifted pickpocketer, but also a “put-pocketer”.

Hayley Atwell trained for months to get in form for her role in the film.

Cast stuck together through COVID

In addition to filming Mission: Impossible together, Pegg and Klementieff made their own film while in Venice, inspired by French New Wave.

Klementieff sang the sweet call-out song to her Marvel co-star Chris Hemsworth, while Pegg directed it.

“We try not to talk about it because we want a small amount of time to talk about Mission,” Pegg said, acknowledging the five-minute interview slots, as Klementieff laughed.

Pegg said although the waiting made for some of the hardest times during filming, when everyone was on set, it was “so much fun”.

Atwell said the most frustrating aspect was that after five months of training, ready to begin shooting, COVID lockdown shut it all down.

Even when production was halted, everyone was still in contact, she said, so it felt as though it never really stopped.

“It’s a real testament to Tom’s kind of sheer determination that nothing will stop this movie being made,” Atwell told TND.

“He really cares about crew members and the number of people whose families would be affected by not working, and he thought there’s got to be a way where we can make this happen.

“And if we can, we’re also signalling to the other big, big movies that there’s a way to do this.”

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning is in cinemas on July 8