MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING The director offers insight into the mysterious character of Hayley Atwell

Director Christopher McCarrie’S Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning part one is headed our way and we got to see some great footage teasing this chapter of the story, but one element of the film has been kept under wraps, and that is the character played by Captain America actress Hayley Atwell .

In a recent interview with Empire Magazine just a month before the film’s release, McQuarrie opened up about Atwell’s character, saying:

“Hayley’s character hasn’t had a name for a long, long time. She has her own goal of her and more or less gets trapped in this movie. What you have here is a character that absolutely doesn’t belong in a Mission: Impossible movie, and she’s doing everything she can to get out of it.

Atwell’s character was eventually given a name, Grace, which the actor describes as “incoherent” and “an agent of chaos”. The role involved months of grueling precision driving training for a chaotic central car chase around Rome, which you can see pictured above. The job was made even more difficult by “this fucking Fiat who we nicknamed Tricksy because she had a mind of her own,” explained McQuarrie. And to make matters worse, Atwell was also working alongside Tom Cruise, whose stunt skills are several leagues beyond your average action star. Providing insight into Cruise’s mentality, Atwell reveals that “Tom often said, ‘Don’t be safe, be competent.’ He’s been a big mantra for me.”

I guess safety comes first when working with Tom Cruise! The showdown starts first hits theaters July 11.