The Mission: Impossible series has had many iconic characters over the years, such as Luther Stickell, Julia Meade and William Brandt. But one of the most beloved characters in the franchise is Ethan Hunt’s man behind the computer, Benji Dunn, played by Simon Pegg. The actor recently talked about Tom Cruise’s love for flying helicopters and revealed some secret talents of his own.
While making an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning, Simon shared some stories of his good friend and co-star Cruise and how he behaves like Ethan Hunt in real life as well. “For him that’s his life. I remember having to mow a landing pad in my garden for him to come to my house for a cup of tea. The chopper landed; he came in and showed us clips from the movie. He even asked my daughter and wife, ‘Do you want a tour around London?’ and they said, ‘No.’”
The actor added that slowly and surely working with Cruise rubbed off on him, and he started working out to look better in the films. According to Pegg, after looking at his transformation, Cruise decided to give him a rather appreciative nickname. “The first iteration of Benji was a little tubby. I got in shape for Ghost Protocol, and I realised that I love doing this. So I started working out even more, and then Tom started calling me ‘six-pack Peggle’”.
In the same interview the actor revealed that Cruise isn’t the only superstar he shares the big stage with and talked about how he played the Glastonbury Music Festival with the biggest band in the world, Coldplay. “The first time I played with the band was in London, and whenever they used to play in the city, Chris Martin would tell me to play the harmonica with them on the stage. I used to get so nervous, and eventually I just switched to the tambourine because you cannot hit a bum note with that. Every now and then I go and see them, and they hand me the instrument on a silver cushion; I play one song, feel what it’s like to be a rockstar, and then go home.”
Apart from the Mission: Impossible franchise, Pegg has many impressive notches on his belt, like Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), The Adventures of Tintin (2011) and Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012). He is seen reprising his role as tech expert Benji Dunn in the latest Mission: Impossible, Dead Reckoning.