‘Mission: Impossible’ Star Recalls Making Out With Tom Cruise During Her Honeymoon
Michelle Monaghan, who plays Tom Cruise’s ex-wife, Julia, in the Mission: Impossible franchise, recently spoke with Collider the time she found herself making out with the Top Gun star on what was supposed to be her honeymoon.
Monaghan entered the series with Mission: Impossible III (2006). She admitted that the night before she started shooting J.J. Abrams’ sequel was the most nervous she’s ever been. “That was such a big film for [my career],” she noted. It didn’t help that she’d recently wed her real-life husband, Peter White, and had to forgo their honeymoon to star in the film.
“I had just gotten married and kind of skipped my honeymoon to start the film right away,” Monaghan recalled. “Then I remember going to work, and Tom and I had kind of an intimate scene, and of course that was the first scene.”
The Due Date actor continued: “I come home at the end of the day, open up the hotel room, and [White] said, ‘How was it?’ I was like, ‘Oh my god, it was amazing. He was so nice. It was great.’
Her husband’s reaction was somewhat unexpected, though. “He goes, ‘How cool is it that you were making out with Tom Cruise on our honeymoon?’ Because we're just such fans,” Monaghan laughed.
Monaghan starred in the third installment and returned for a cameo in the fourth, M:I – Ghost Protocol (2011), though her ongoing relationship with Ethan has been confused. She had a more substantial part in the sixth film, M:I – Fallout. There, Ethan seeks out Julia—now married to a different man—for some help executing the death-defying climax.
Despite the inconsistent scripting, Monaghan expressed nothing but love for the franchise. M:I III was the role that launched her from supporting to starring roles, many of which have remained in the action genre.
“I worked hard to get that role,” Monaghan explained. “I was very nervous, of course, the night before, and then proceeded to have just an amazing shoot with J.J. and Tom, and I have all the respect for them and that franchise.”
She concluded, laughing: “I can't believe I shared that story, but it's the truth.”
Monaghan is currently starring opposite cold-plunge fanatic Mark Wahlberg in Apple Studios’ action-comedy The Family Plan.