10 Iconic Movie Characters Only ONE Actor Could Play

I've talked a lot so far about actors embodying their characters, and blurring the line between performer and the role itself, but nobody takes that quite as far as Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible series.

Though he technically 'plays' a 'character' called 'Ethan Hunt', a premiere secret agent with a seriously toxic on-and-off-again relationship with his bosses at the Impossible Mission Force, he really just plays Tom Cruise. Or at least, the imagined version of superstar actor Tom Cruise everyone has in their heads.

In the run up to these movies and in the weeks following their release, the focus is never on what's happening to Ethan in the films, but what insane new stunt Cruise has put himself through.

Unlike most action stars, even at the age of 57 the actor insists on doing his own daring stunts, whether that's performing a real life HALO jump, hanging onto the side of a real plane taking off, or putting thousands of hours into getting a flight license so he can correctly pilot a helicopter during action scenes.

Cruise's mad dedication to the role is why Mission Impossible remains so successful, and trying to replace him with an actor even half as committed would kill it dead. Just ask Jeremy Renner.