Four years after ending her time on the TV series Felicity, Keri Russell made her blockbuster film debut in Mission: Impossible III, playing Lindsay Faris. Although her time in the Mission: Impossible franchise was relatively brief, Russell at least got to star alongside series hero Tom Cruise in what she described in a recent interview as “an epic gun battle scene.” The actress recalled what it was like to participate in that scene, which included sharing a suggestion Cruise made about what to do if her hair caught fire.
Russell sat down with Variety to play a game of guessing the lines from some of her most famous projects, and it happened just weeks before she was seen reprising Kate Wyler in Season 2 of The Diplomat. outside! How many rounds did you get?” from Mission: Impossible III. She had no trouble recalling the experience of shooting the gun scene from the 2006 action film. She began by saying:
Epic gun battle scene, epic. Oh, my God. First, Tom Cruise does most of his own stunts. So, because they see his face, I should too. Like jumping off a building that’s about to explode, and landing on top of a truck as it drives away. He says, “Listen, if we’re jumping down and your hair catches fire, just shake it.” I was like, “Okay, really?” Note: I have a lot more hair than he does.
It’s the idea of Tom Cruise looking out for Keri Russell that matters, but yes, it would have been harder for her to get rid of the flames from her long hair than it would have been if he had to deal with them with his much shorter hairstyle. But it wasn’t just a tip that Cruise provided while filming Mission: Impossible III with Russell. There’s a moment in the scene when Ethan Hunt tosses Lindsay Farris a gun, and Cruise pushes for a shot where Russell holds the firearm instead of handling it through CGI. The actress explained:
I think it was around that line. Tom is supposed to look at me, and then, in slow motion…throw me a gun and I grab it, and I’m gone [makes gun firing noises]Like some badass moves. “No, so what you’re going to do is he’s going to pretend to throw and then we’re going to compose something with the computer, so just make your hand like this,” JJ said. And Tom says, “No, no, no, she can do it.” I said, “Tom, I can’t.” So he says, “We’ll do one, we’ll do one.” “Let’s see if she can do it.” I did it. [Makes swooshing noise] It was so wonderful.
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Mission: Impossible III was Keri Russell’s second collaboration with director JJ Abrams, who co-created Felicity with Matt Reeves, and then re-teamed for 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Although it was not as commercially successful as the first two films Of the Mission: Impossible films, and still ranked as the lowest-grossing film in the series, III received generally positive reviews. Sadly, Lindsay Faris never became one of Ethan Hunt’s recurring allies, as she was killed shortly after her introduction by an explosive bullet implanted in her head.
While we wait for more updates about 2025’s Mission: Impossible 8, remember that all released films from the series can be streamed with a Paramount+ subscription. For Keri Russell fans, Season 2 of The Diplomat will premiere to Netflix subscription holders on October 31, and Season 3 has already been greenlighted.
