Greg Tarzan Davis Credits Tom Cruise For Career Guidance

Fans of Top Gun: Maverick are in for a real treat wit the new Mission Impossible movie, Dead Reckoning Part One.

Source: Anadolu Agency / Getty

Tom Cruise And Christopher McQuarrie Praise ‘Mission Impossible’Newcomer Greg Tarzan Davis’ Performance

The film reunites Cruise with Maverick co-star Greg Tarzan Davis, who plays an agent named Degas who is in pursuit of Ethan Hunt after he’s gone rogue yet again. We caught up with both actors, as well as Mission Impossible writer/director Christopher McQuarrie at the world premiere of the film in Rome in June. Tarzan wore a black velvet tux in temperatures that topped 90 degrees, but somehow managed to look cool nonetheless.

“I gotta shout out to my stylist Jason Rembert,” Tarzan told BOSSIP Sr. Content Director Janeé Bolden of the look. “He really has me good. This is Brunello [Cuccinelli] that I’m wearing right now. Yes we decided to wear a velvet. We decided to come out here to the premiere of one of the biggest movies and wear Brunello.”

We asked Tarzan for style tips for staying comfortable in the hot temperatures and he joked that he opted to have the carpet in as much shade as possible.

“It’s really a tricky balance because oftentimes I’m not comfortable and I knew it was going to be hot out here,” Tarzan said. “I knew it was gonna be hot out here, yeah and I summoned — I told them ‘Listen I wanna look good and stylish, let’s make sure we have the interviews in this portion where I knew the buildings were gonna be covering up the sun.’ You have to sometimes command the stage.”

All jokes aside, Tarzan is living many young actor’s dreams, starring alongside Tom Cruise in multiple movies. We asked the New Orleans native what it feels like having an MI role written especially for him by McQ.

“As an actor you strive to get offers and have people to think of you in different roles so for him to say, ‘Hey I saw your work in Top Gun, we really loved it, Tom and I,’ and they say, ‘Hey we’re going to write this role for you,’ it’s a real honor. I love those two guys. They are my mentors. I call them my uncles. It’s incredible what they do and to be a part of that and learn, I’m blessed.”

Source: Courtesy / Paramount Pictures and Skydance

We asked Christopher McQuarrie about what qualities lead him to write a role for Tarzan and he told us it was an easy call.

“That kid is a natural star,” McQuarrie told us. “He’s just got it and and that’s a guy that doesn’t require a lot of direction, you just cut him loose and let him go. He is inventive, he is innately instinctive, he’s just raw natural talent. You can’t control him on a press line to save your life, but I could tell you on set he’s an absolute pro!”

Tom Cruise had similar compliments for Davis, who he predicts has a bright future ahead in Hollywood.

“He’s very charismatic, he’s a very good person, he’s a very hard worker and I’m glad that you love his performance,” Cruise said of Tarzan. “You’ll see what he brings in time and it’s a pleasure. He works very hard. He’s very talented. You see the moments that he creates and the arc of that character. I’m very proud of him. He’s a good dude.”

We had to ask about the #DegasForPresident hashtag that we’ve seen Tarzan use on his social media posts about Mission Impossible.

“I’m gonna keep him in movies,” Cruise said, not wanting to elaborate much more about the arc ahead for for Davis’ character. “He’s got responsibility, we’re spending a lot of time teaching him about cinema. He’s got to have his own premieres like this. That’s why they’re here. That’s what I do. I’ve been fortunate that so many people have been so generous with me. I’m always like, ‘Look, you’re gonna do what you’re gonna do, but I’m gonna share with you all the knowledge that I have and you decide what you want to use what you don’t and how you want to use it.’ You’re going to find your own voice, but the things that we do is I’m both I and I still study every single day. I’m studying cinema and so I go from me being the student, to the teacher and I’ve also learned from them too when I’m watching them. When you see all the actors, I want everyone to win. I celebrate everyone. It’s not just now. It’s just who I am and what I’ve done in my career my whole life.”

Source: Courtesy / Paramount Pictures and Skydance

Cruise also spoke about his approach to performing his own stunts, revealing that he approaches them with a lot of focus and calm energy.

“I’m more just relaxed, focused going through,” Cruise told us. “There’s a lot for me to think about and performance so I need to be right there in the moment. A lot of times, I’m checking the equipment. I’m checking my equipment, I’m going through everything. It’s kind of quiet and everyone’s very much just like it’s another day, you know. So that is what I do. I’m more just nice and easy. Everybody’s relaxed, you know there’s no one that’s, you know and we surround it, no one that’s nervous, no one says good luck, no one says anything. It’s like just another day at the office and we’re getting it done. It’s just all very chill you know. That’s how we keep it. We keep it competent, keep it chill.”

Speaking of stunts. We had to ask Christopher McQuarrie about one of the biggest action scenes in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One which takes place at the same Spanish Steps as the premiere. McQ told us initially he’d hoped to be able to use the actual historical sight, but he was able to make adjustments after not being able to get permission to drive on the famed stairs.

“It’s a bit of a departure for us because everything we do is about coming to these cultures and celebrating the architecture and celebrating the people,” McQuarrie said. “That was a slightly unusual departure and when we got here we were looking at the steps and we had this idea of driving down them and of course they didn’t want that. We were very respectful and I said, ‘Well if we never actually physically touch the steps would you let us do it?’ And they said, ‘Yes then you could do whatever you want.’ The keyword was we could do whatever we want, so we did everything with permission before we did it and you’ll see the result.”

We’re so excited for you guys to check it out! Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One is in theaters everywhere now!