Tom Cruise had Hannah Waddingham at hello — and now, she has no patience for his haters.

The Ted Lasso actress is set to appear in the eighth Mission: Impossible film alongside the Top Gun star, and discussed her experience on set with chef James Martin. “I have to say… I’ve got a real problem with anyone that goes at him now,” Waddingham said. “Having spent five days with him intensely on the [USS George H.W. Bush], no fineries, all this mucking in… he is without doubt one of the most lovely, encouraging, positive, inspiring human beings I have ever met. Isn’t he gorgeous? I have no time for anyone saying anything about him.”

Waddingham also said that she still needs to shoot one more major scene with Cruise before her time on the film comes to a close.

Hannah Waddingham and Tom Cruise.

GARETH CATTERMOLE/GETTY; BRYAN BEDDER/GETTY

This isn’t the first time Waddingham has sung Cruise’s praises. In an interview with Live with Kelly and Mark in March, the actress said, “I’ve met plenty of fabulous people. He is one of, if not the most inspiring, encouraging, warm, tactile, friendly to everyone, engaging… I mean seriously, he and I were literally like two 12-year-olds together.”

The highly anticipated action film is slated to release on May 23, 2025, after being delayed from its prior June 2024 date due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. The eighth installment in the series was originally titled Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two after this year’s Part One, but that subtitle was dropped when the film was delayed.

Dead Reckoning Part One saw Cruise’s Ethan Hunt reteam with allies played by Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby to battle a mysterious A.I. called The Entity. New cast members Hayley Atwell, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, and Greg Tarzan Davis all made their Mission debuts in that seventh installment. All of those actors are tentatively expected to appear in the forthcoming follow-up, along with new faces like Waddingham, Nick Offerman, and Holt McCallany.

You can watch the full interview above.

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