Kittridge Is Back: Henry Czerny Talks ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ and How He Almost Returned to the Franchise Earlier
variety.comJordan Moreau Henry Czerny received a mission from filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie and chose to accept it. That mission? Return as former IMF chief Eugene Kittridge in “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” 27 years after he first appeared in the original “Mission: Impossible” in 1996.
At the “Dead Reckoning” premiere in New York, Czerny said when he first got the call about returning to the “Mission: Impossible” world, he didn’t believe it. “I think it’s a joke at first because my reps called me and said they want to bring Kittridge back and I’m in the middle of doing my errands in Los Angeles and fighting traffic or shredding old tax documents,” he told Variety. “I think, ‘Okay, what’s going on really?’ They say, ‘Chris McQuarrie wants to talk to you about bringing Kittridge back,’ and I take it seriously.
Two days later, I’m on a call with Chris McQuarrie.” Czerny revealed that that McQuarrie, who began writing and directing the series with 2015’s “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” originally wanted Kittridge back “a couple of installments ago.” In “Rogue Nation,” Alec Baldwin came onboard as Alan Hunley, the director of the CIA, who became Secretary of the Impossible Missions Force in 2018’s “Fallout.” Czerny wouldn’t reveal any of the previous plans for Kittridge’s original return, but said, “I’m thrilled that Alec came and did Hunley, that’s for sure.
That was great, I love that.” In “Dead Reckoning,” Kittridge is back, but this time as the new CIA director. He’s taking over from Angela Bassett’s Erika Sloane, who appears in a photograph in the opening scene with all the heads of national security. (Bassett was unavailable to return due to the COVID-19 production delays, and McQuarrie teased that
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