Posted in: Movies, Paramount Pictures | Tagged: mission impossible, Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning: Saxon on Franchise Return

Rolf Saxon spoke to Bleeding Cool about his return as Donloe in Paramount's Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, after nearly 30 years.

Rolf Saxon has had the kind of career most actors would dream of working in Hollywood for nearly 40 years since his debut in the TV movie Little Lord Fauntleroy in 1980. From there, he regularly appeared on several TV shows and voiceovers and took the occasional film role. Some of his most memorable works include 1984 (1984), Pulaski: The TV Detective, Capital City, and Love Hurts. He would land one of his signature roles as CIA Analyst William Donloe in the 1996 cinematic reboot of Paramount's Mission: Impossible, which is based on the Bruce Geller TV spy franchise of the same name that starred Peter Graves, but the films would star Tom Cruise as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, that shifted away from Graves' Jim Phelps (who was played by Jon Voight in the Brian De Palma film).

Donloe would be the unfortunate patsy who would get drugged by Claire Phelps (Emmanuelle Béart), giving him stomach issues and repeat trips to the restroom while Ethan wire-dropped down from the ceiling with Donloe logged in to download a copy of the NOC list featuring a database of names of IMF agents. Nearly 30 years later, Donloe will make his return following his reassignment by Henry Czerny's Eugene Kittridge in the upcoming Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Part Two. Saxon spoke to Bleeding Cool about how he initially thought writer-director Christopher McQuarrie's interest was a prank, catching up, and what he can tease about Donloe's return.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Star Rolf Saxon on Dunloe's Return

Bleeding Cool: You took a bit of a break from screen roles since 2017, what made you decide the time was right for a return and for 'Mission: Impossible?'
I got a tap on the shoulder [laughs]. My agent said that there's a European film company that wants to be in touch, and would it be all right to give them my contact information? I asked, "Who are they?" She said, "I don't know," and I said, "Do they look legit?" She said, "Yeah, I think so," so boom! We did it. I ostensibly got an email from Christopher McQuarrie saying he would be interested in speaking with me.

I thought at first, "This is a friend of mine joking with me." I've got a buddy in Scotland, with whom we do this with each other, and I thought this was what that was. My agent then said it was a company called Skydance, and she wasn't aware of who they were. I said, "Oh, okay, if it's true, then it's pretty good news." When the designated time arrived, I had an email for a Zoom meeting, and I thought my buddy had really done it well. He's got "McHugh at da da da" and I thought, "Oh, you see, that's great. Good for you, Bill! I'm going to give you a real what for." Suddenly, he was on screen and within five minutes, offered me the part, and asked if I would be interested?" I couldn't even joke, saying, "Well, let me think about it." I just said, "Yes! All four feet," so that's how that happened. That was almost three years ago.

How long did it take for that pitch to sink in for you before you accepted?

[laughs] We spoke for about an hour, just under an hour on the phone, and within five minutes, he'd offered, and within five minutes afterward, I'd said "Absolutely, I'm interested!" I mean, the idea that Christopher McQuarrie was calling me to ask me if I'd like to return to a role I did 25 years before, I said, "Okay." He told me the premise, and it sounded fascinating. I said, "Okay! Yeah, great! I would love to do that."

Was there anything you had to do to get your mind around revisiting that character, after I imagine it felt like such an afterthought for so long, or did fans regularly talk to you about that?

No, I went back and watched number one. I mean, I've seen them all, but I went and watched them all again to get to be entrenched in it to see, because there have been a lot of changes from number one to six, as that was then. With what [Chris] told me was going to be happening with the character that changed somewhat as we went along, we weren't given a script per se, but we were given ideas, which is pretty much what this is. I'm primarily a theater actor, so I like to rehearse, and that wasn't quite the way they worked, so I was kept on my toes quite a bit.

With spoilers in mind, how much could you say has changed with William Dunloe in that time span? Was it something like you had like a core that you still were able to keep, or is it whatever happened from the events of that 1996 film changed him to the point where he might be dramatically different? What can you say about where he is now?

Well, keeping spoilers in mind, it is the same guy. It is absolutely the same guy. It's 25 years later, and you will meet him in Alaska. A lot of things that started at number one are coming to fruition, or it's becoming a full circle by number eight, with a huge kick in number seven ('Dead Reckoning Part One'). A lot of things are tied up. There are a lot of interesting facets to number one that are revisited, picked up, and looked at again. I think folks are going to like it a lot.

During that time, obviously, since you did that role, did it feel like there was some weight on your shoulders that you went from one spy franchise to another with James Bond when you did 'Tomorrow Never Dies' (1997), or did it feel like another job for you?

Yeah, it was a job. That's sort of the job of a jobbing actor, when something comes up. If you can do it, you say yes. That's pretty much the way my career is.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which also stars Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and Angela Bassett, comes exclusively to theaters on May 23rd.

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