Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning star Hayley Atwell 'in awe' of Tom Cruise's work ethic

Hayley Atwell was in awe of Tom Cruise's work ethic on 'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One'.

The 43-year-old actress joined the action-thriller franchise as her former professional thief-turned-Impossible Mission Force (IMF) agent alter ego, Grace, in the 2015 prequel to 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning'.

And Atwell regarded the 'Top Gun' star's devotion to creating movies, including performing hellraising, daredevil stunts, as "remarkable".

She told Collider.com: "We filmed Grace's first-ever introduction in the second film, so her first appearance in the movie is the last thing that I shot.

"I remember that day, Tom had said, 'Movies are not something I do, it's who I am.' And I could see that. I saw that every day for five years. He lives it and breathes it and has devoted his life to it.

"So, to work with someone with that kind of work ethic is remarkable."

Cruise, 62 - who has suffered various injuries during his career, including a broken ankle while shooting 2018's 'Mission: Impossible - Fallout' when performing a stunt that saw him jump between buildings - previously admitted he always goes "too far" with his aerobatic performances.

However, one stunt of Cruise's that Atwell would have loved to have done was when he had to hang upside down on cables to shoot the scene where Ethan breaks into the CIA's vault in the first 'Mission: Impossible' flick that came out in 1996.

Speaking about that legendary stunt - which almost never happened because Cruise kept falling during takes and the movie's director, Brian De Palma, wanted to move on to filming other scenes - Atwell said: "Probably the vaults in the first one. Yeah, that's the one I remember the most growing up. It’s quite iconic, so I'd like to give that a go."

Atwell returns as Grace in what is slated as the final 'Mission: Impossible' movie, 'The Final Reckoning', which sees Ethan and the Ethan Hunt and the IMF team hunt down the deadly artificial intelligence, Entity.

And her highlight was spending time in the Arctic Circle to film some scenes for the Paramount movie.

Atwell said: "I never thought I would be filming in the Arctic Circle, waiting for a polar bear to cross our path before we could carry on shooting.

"It's an extraordinary place to visit, but to then live there and work there for that time and to be with the incredible people, from the dog sled handlers to the Polar X company, who are on both polar bear patrol and keeping us safe.

"It was all kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, really, and I just loved it. I was so, so privileged to be there."