Mission: Impossible's Simon Pegg would "love" a Benji and Ilsa spin-off
Pegg's character Benji Dunn is back for the fifth time in the latest instalment, Dead Reckoning Part 1.
Since first joining the Mission: Impossible franchise for the third entry back in 2006, Simon Pegg's Benji Dunn has become one of the most prominent characters in the series.
The tech whizz is often seen guiding Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt from afar, and has also been caught up in the action a fair bit himself – and now he's back on IMF duty once again in the seventh instalment, Dead Reckoning Part 1.
Cruise and Pegg are also joined in their latest impossible mission by two other familiar faces from the previous films: Ving Rhames and Rebecca Ferguson, who return as hacker Luther Stickell and former MI6 agent Ilsa Faust respectively.
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And speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Pegg and Ferguson both explained how much fun it was to get the gang back together.
"I absolutely love working with this one," Pegg said. "Our little team; particularly the four of us - me, Tom, Ving and Rebecca.
"Because we've been at it for a long time now, when we get together in a room it's just really, really fun. I love it!"
"We get told off, we're like children," added Ferguson. "The first AD gets very annoyed with us!"
Read more:
- Mission: Impossible's Hayley Atwell on what surprised her about Tom Cruise
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 review | The epitome of popcorn cinema
Meanwhile, Pegg also revealed that he's thought long and hard about the nuances of the dynamic between Benji and Ilsa, so much so that he reckons the pair would be worthy of their own film.
"I have this whole thing with Benji that he's a bit jealous of Ilsa because like he loves Ethan so much," he explained. "And Benji has always been a bit funny with Ilsa, but I think he loves her.
"And there's a lovely line in the film, when Ving talks about their relationship as being close "in their way". And, you know, I like to play that. But I would love to see Benji and Ilsa in a spin-off movie!"
Pegg also revealed during the interview that – just like many fans – he's often left wondering at the end of each film in the franchise how Cruise is going to take things up another notch for the next entry.
"After Rogue Nation we felt like that, after Fallout we felt like that," he said. "But Tom and McQ [director Christopher McQuarrie] are just like... they're never gonna sit back and just rest on what they've done before.
"They always want to push the boundaries, both of them, and so we just have to kind of buckle up and get ready for it!"
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 is released in UK cinemas on Friday 14th July 2023. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.
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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.
