Mission: Impossible's Simon Pegg admits "a lot of people were pissed" Rebecca Ferguson's character was killed
Ilsa Faust met a tragic demise in Venice during the events of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning.
Since the first Mission: Impossible film was released back in 1996, a whole host of supporting characters have been introduced alongside Tom Cruise's IMF agent Ethan Hunt – from long-term allies like Simon Pegg's Benji Dunn and Ving Rhames's Luther Stickell to notable foes such as Philip Seymour Hoffman's Owen Davian.
But in the history of the franchise – which is expected to draw to a close with new film The Final Reckoning – perhaps no character has proven as fascinating as Rebecca Ferguson's Ilsa Faust.
The former MI6 Agent-turned-IMF colleague was first introduced as an undercover operative in the fifth film, Rogue Nation, and went on to become a huge fan favourite with subsequent appearances in both Fallout and Dead Reckoning – the latter of which saw her brutally killed off by the canals of Venice.
That death led to an outpouring of grief from fans, many of whom felt the character deserved a better ending (and some of whom remained in a state of denial, hoping she might somehow return for the next film).
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Alas, it was not to be, and it turns out Ilsa Faust really did die in Venice.
Still, according to star Simon Pegg – who returns to play Benji Dunn for the sixth successive Mission: Impossible film – the cast very much stayed in contact with Ferguson while making the new film.
"I talk to Rebecca all the time," Pegg revealed. "She's been really busy. She's been shooting Silo [season] 3, and she's kind of... you know, it's a shame, and a lot of people were pissed that Ilsa was killed."
He added: "I think that speaks to the popularity of the character and of Rebecca. But, you know, these are impossible missions, and not everybody makes it right?"
While Ilsa isn't back for more this time, the IMF crew are joined by some new faces, including Pom Klementieff's Paris – who was introduced as an adversary in the previous film before joining forces with Ethan Hunt and co this time around.
And Pegg said that he greatly enjoyed watching that character's journey across the two films.
"One of my favourite things about these two films is Paris's journey," he said. "You know, she's so badass in Dead Reckoning, and like this, incredibly charismatic, unstoppable... And then you just get to see her vulnerability in this one and there's such a kind of transformation.
"I feel like Paris goes through as much of a transformation in these two films as Benji does in six!"
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Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is now showing in UK cinemas.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
