Impossible’ Film Is “Very Emotional”

It’s been 30 years since Ving Rhames starred in the first film of the modern Mission: Impossible franchise, a very different entry from the later action-packed movies. Rhames has worked with Tom Cruise for all that time, and is still keeping busy in Hollywood, both on the big and small screen. His latest boxing film, Uppercut, is now available, and Mission: Impossible fans simply can’t wait for The Final Reckoning to hit theaters in May. MovieWeb recently caught up with Rhames while he was promoting Uppercut, and the celebrated actor took time to offer a glimpse of what to expect with the eighth film in the great action franchise.

“I would say it is very emotional,” Rhames told us. “And it really shows a lot about the relationship between Tom and I.”

Apple TV+ subscribers can also catch Rhames in the gritty new series Dope Thief, which premieres this week. Rhames plays the incarcerated father of the eponymous antihero portrayed by Oscar-nominee Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta). “Just like [Uppercut], it’s about the human condition, the human experience and the interaction between the characters,” said Rhames.

Related: ‘Uppercut’ Stars Ving Rhames & Luiii Share Their Favorite Boxing Movies

“Naturally” Having That Chemistry

Looking back on Rhames’ decorated Hollywood career, fans might forever know him best as Marsellus Wallace from Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 masterpiece. “I haven’t really been in touch with Quentin, but I thank him for having the opportunity to work with him,” Rhames told us regarding his Pulp Fiction experience.

And then there’s Uppercut, another Rhames project that’s now available on demand and digital, which sees the actor as a down-and-out boxing trainer who takes on an ambitious new contender (Luiii). “I think we just naturally, thank God, had that chemistry,” said Rhames on working with his co-star. “I don’t know why, but I do feel we naturally had it.”

Rhames also opened up about preparing to play his latest big-screen character:

“It was really the director really knowing the story well and knowing who the characters were. So I think his input — and we had a rehearsal period that was most important to me, opposed to doing any ‘research.’ I know quite a few boxers, I’ve worked with quite a few, so I already had that sort of research in me. But working with this director [Torsten Ruether], he really, you know, added quite a bit to my character.”

boxing

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Rhames’ Uppercut co-star Luiii joined our interview and also weighed in on how she prepared for her character in a boxing movie about much more than just intense fights. “She has this boxing background, and it was important for me to be in shape, to know what I’m doing. We’re having these training sequences. So I, on the one side — of course, I got into boxing lessons, I trained with a German former world champion, and she trained me, and I also did some gym classes here in LA. And so this was the one part, but the other part was quite like what [Ving] said… We had really the rehearsals, we had the readings, and that brought us into the story, basically. This is not like the common boxing movie where it’s about the fight, but it’s more about our characters. And that’s why, for me, this was more important than the boxing itself.”

From Lionsgate, Uppercut is now available on demand and on digital. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning hits theaters on May 23, 2025.

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