10 Shocking Reasons Actors Quit Movies

Though Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One seemingly marked Rebecca Ferguson's departure from the franchise with the demise of her fan favourite character Ilsa Faust, that seemingly wasn't the original plan.

In a recent interview with The Wrap, Ferguson explained that she was initially offered a role in the upcoming eighth film, but decided to turn it down due to the franchise's gruellingly long production schedule.

The more recent Mission: Impossible films have famously started filming without set-in-stone scripts, with filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie and star Tom Cruise more-or-less building the narrative as they go, while focusing first on designing high-wire set-pieces.

It's a fascinating way to make a massive movie, and while Ferguson called the process "intoxicatingly exciting", she noted that it also meant you can spend "a lot of time sitting around waiting to film."

Ferguson stated that the outline for Mission: Impossible 8 didn't have much of a role for Ilsa, and so decided to withdraw from the movie altogether, rather than turn down other projects while waiting to be called up for her scenes in this film.

Ferguson noted that since Dead Reckoning Part One wrapped filming, she's shot Dune Part Two and two seasons of the Apple TV+ series Silo, which wouldn't have been possible if she had to sit on her hands and wait for McQuarrie and Cruise to call her up.

It totally makes sense from Ferguson's perspective, even if it's a damn shame that we seemingly won't be seeing Ilsa again, especially as how many fans were dissatisfied with her exit in the previous movie.