Mission: Impossible: Tom Cruise says he’d love to keep playing Ethan Hunt until he’s Harrison Ford’s age

Tom Cruise is used to going to extremes to thrill audiences with the bombastic action of the Mission: Impossible franchise, but how long can he cheat death by repeatedly playing MI6 agent Ethan Hunt? If Cruise has his way, he’ll laugh at the Grim Reaper’s boney face alongside the withering visage of Father Time by defying the odds for years to come. Forever the goal-oriented actor, Cruise says he wants to walk in Harrison Ford’s shadow by playing Ethan Hunt until he’s the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny actor’s age.

“Harrison Ford is a legend,” Cruise told The Sydney Morning Herald while walking the red carpet on the Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One premiere. “I’ve got twenty years to catch up with him.” While Cruise has played Ethan Hunt for over twenty years, Ford still plays Henry Walton “Indiana” Jones Jr. after 42 trips around the sun. I know Cruise is a man with lofty aspirations, but can his body withstand the intensity of bringing Hunt to screens for two more decades? If Cruise’s work in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is any indication, he can.

“I hope to keep making Mission: Impossible films until I’m his age,” Cruise said about becoming his signature character repeatedly across generations.

As for being a legend, Ford says that his definition of the word varies from that of most people. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly in June, Ford commented on what he thinks being a legend entails, saying, “I do not know what a legend does for a living,” Ford said. “I know that I consider myself to be a working actor, and I’ll settle for that.”

He continues, “I suppose legend means that you’ve been around for a long time. And I think it’s meant to be, uh, gracious, but it just, uh… sounds old.”

Proving he’s as unstoppable as ever, Cruise and Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie a new train stunt featurette on Wednesday, highlighting the incredible lengths Cruise is willing to embrace for the sake of entertainment. The video features Cruise fighting Esai Morales atop a train moving 60 miles per hour. It’s an impressive feat and something any Mission: Impossible fan will enjoy watching.

In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the world’s fate at stake and dark forces from Ethan’s past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan must consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most.

Christopher McQuarrie directs from a screenplay he wrote with Erik Jendressen, based on the television series created by Bruce Geller. Cruise and McQuarrie produce, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Tommy Gormley, Chris Brock, and Susan E. Novick executive producing.

Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, Frederick Schmidt, Cary Elwes, Mark Gatiss, Indira Varma, and Rob Delaney complete the primary cast.

What do you think about Tom Cruise playing Ethan Hunt until he’s Harrison Ford’s age? Let us know in the comments below.