Rebecca Ferguson Reveals the Real Reason She Wears an Eyepatch in Mission: Impossible 7

Rebecca Ferguson has divulged the behind-the-scenes reason for why she has an eyepatch.

The seventh installment of the Mission: Impossible movie series is days away from its release. Bringing back Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One also brings back other franchise favorites. That includes Rebecca Ferguson, who returns as Ilsa Faust for her third Mission: Impossible movie. Ferguson previously debuted as Ilsa in 2015's Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and reprised her role in the 2018 sequel Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

In the promotional materials for Dead Reckoning Part One, Ferguson's Ilsa can be seen donning an eyepatch. Presumably, it will be explained in the film that Ilsa has suffered an apparent injury. As for the real reason Ilsa has an eyepatch in Mission: Impossible 7, that comes down to Ferguson's inability to wink. As the actress explains in a new interview with HeyUGuys (per ComicBook.com), there was a moment in the script that required her to wink, and once it became apparent on the set that this would be a problem, an eyepatch was quickly suggested.

"You'd think that the reason for the eye patch is a cool one. It is not, alas," as Ferguson puts it. "It's because I can't f*cking wink. He lined up the shot, I took it, I was ready, I was breathing, and he goes, 'Now close your eye,' and I went [makes funny face attempting to wink]. He went, 'No, close the one eye. Okay, other shot. Other angle. Close the eye.' [Makes funny face again] 'Can we get an eyepatch? Anyone?' There's nothing more to it than that."

Ferguson's co-star Simon Pegg added, "But out of circumstances, beautiful things are born. That's Mission all the way ... We hit an obstacle, we pivot, and the pivot always makes it better."

Related: Rebecca Ferguson Shares Her NSFW Enthusiasm For Dune: Part Two's "Gut Punch" Scale

Rebec

In another recent interview with Digital Spy, Ferguson spoke further about how a lot of what filmgoers will see in Mission: Impossible 7 are ideas that were put together on the set. That's just how Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie work, and given how the early reviews for the film are incredibly strong, it seems to be a formula that works. She goes on to give Cruise high praise for how much effort he puts into the characters in the movie, knowing that it's not just only about the insane stunts.

"Seeing Tom and [director Christopher McQuarrie] on set and how they speak - because we don't have scripts, I can see how their brains work together [as] they talk about character," Ferguson said. "We talk about action a lot, we talk about needing the stunts and then we build the story around it, but we don't talk a lot about how driven Tom is to create character and the reason why and emotion."

She adds, "It's all very well to see somebody jump off a cliff on a motorbike, but if you don't care about that guy, what his motivations are, where he's going, it doesn't mean anything. Quietly, behind the scenes, whilst everyone is talking about the stunts, they're really drilling down on making characters you can believe in."

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will be released in movie theaters on July 10, 2023. Its sequel, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two, is set to hit theaters on June 28, 2024.

Jeremy Dick has been a writer and editor since 2014. He is a self-professed horror expert, pop culture enthusiast, and Bob Saget fanatic.