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Hannah Waddingham isn’t OK with the criticism Tom Cruise receives. The Ted Lasso actress, 49, defended her Mission Impossible 8 co-star, 61, against the haters during a new interview. “I have to say … I’ve got a real problem with anyone that goes at him now,” she began.
“Having spent five days with him intensely on the [USS George H.W. Bush], no fineries, all this mucking in — he is without doubt one of the most lovely, encouraging, positive, inspiring human beings I have ever met,” Hannah noted during her appearance on ITV’s James Martin’s Sunday Morning. “Isn’t he gorgeous? I have no time for anyone saying anything about him.”
The Hocus Pocus 2 star also added that she has “another kind of main scene” that she has to shoot with Tom after production resumes. Filming required the actors to spend several days on the USS George H.W. Bush fighter carrier. While the untitled eighth installment of the hit action franchise was supposed to hit theaters in June 2024, the release date was pushed back to May 2025 due to production delays from the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The movie is expected to be a continuation of Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, which premiered this past summer.
Hannah previously praised the Top Gun: Maverick actor during an interview on Live With Kelly and Ryan in March of this year. Upon being asked what it was like to work with Hollywood’s mega movie star, Hannah insisted that he was “friendly” and inclusive around everyone on the set.
“Do you know what? And I’m going to say this wholeheartedly. I’ve met plenty of fabulous people. He is one of, if not the most inspiring, encouraging, warm, tactile, friendly to everyone, engaging … ” the U.K. native began. “I mean seriously, he and I were literally like two 12-year-olds together.”
The West End and Broadway alum then elaborated on what she meant by their playful demeanor while working.
“Just because we’re arriving on the George H.W. Bush carrier with all the F-18s flying off,” Hannah explained. “We land in an osprey, like that’s normal, right? And he was literally, the whole way like, next to me, nudging me going, ‘Oh my god! Isn’t this great?’ And I was like, ‘This is great.’”
Hannah concluded the interview by doubling down that she “can’t speak highly enough about” Tom. Although it was “nerve-wracking” to film scenes at an intense location such as this one, the Game of Thrones alum pointed out that the Jerry Maguire actor put her at “the most ease ever, and every single eyeball he meets, he’s just making everyone feel like they’re included — everyone on that ship.”
