'I was finally given the trust and the platform': Hayley Atwell praised Tom Cruise for taking a chance on her

Hayley Atwell is "eternally grateful" to Tom Cruise and Christopher 'McQ' McQuarrie for bringing her into the 'Mission: Impossible' franchise.

The 41-year-old actress plays master thief, Grace, in 'Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One' and Hayley relished the opportunity to show off her skills.

She told The Hollywood Reporter: "I was finally given the trust and the platform … to show more range and to show more emotional depth in a franchise or something of this size, which I hadn’t been afforded before. And so I have this eternal gratitude to Tom and to McQ, who provided the resources and the support system every day on set so that I could thrive. It’s been a deliverance of a long time coming. After 17 years in this industry, I’ve finally been able to do something at this level, with this quality of filmmaking, and I’d never been afforded that before."

And, Hayley has many memorable moments from the shoot, including one car chase with Tom handcuffed to her.

She said: "There’s about 20 minutes of footage of us [drifting] over and over again. And then Tom led a round of applause from the crew, and McQ said, ‘Tom put his life in your hands just then and he wouldn’t have allowed you to do that had he not believed that you could look after him, too.’ So they’re never short on their praise for when actors come in and deliver for them. That’s a moment I’ll never forget.”