Nick Offerman Says He Fell in Love With Tom Cruise After One Day on a ‘Mission: Impossible’ Set: ‘Charisma 101’

Tom Cruise’s work ethic and commitment to getting the shot are the stuff of Hollywood legend at this point, especially when it comes to his nearly three-decade franchise, “Mission: Impossible.” One new co-star was particularly wowed after seeing it firsthand: Emmy-winning “The Last of Us” and “Civil War” actor Nick Offerman, who joins the franchise for the first time in the upcoming “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and told late-night host Jimmy Kimmel it took just one day on the set for him to wind up enchanted by Cruise’s charisma.

During his Tuesday appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Offerman recalled working with Tom Cruise for the first time on one of the film’s dramatic scenes. “His wrists are bound, and he would come in every day and set up and do this like a three-page monologue to the president, Angela Bassett, and her cabinet, of which I was a member … and by the end of the first day, I went home and said to my wife, Megan [Mullally], ‘I’m in love with Tom Cruise.'”

“It was like I was going to college, class of Charisma 101, Protagonist Doctorate Degree,” Offerman said. “I mean, he finished shooting that scene, I was like, ‘I will take a bullet for you. Tom, like, put me on your security.'”

When Kimmel asked what about Cruise won Offerman over, the “Parks and Recreation” actor had a very on-brand response: “His work ethic.”

“He’s so passionate,” Offerman explained. Every second, he’s either scrutinizing, ‘Okay, this scene is really intense, but how can we get the audience to piss themselves even more?’ He’s just constantly at that amount of focus, and then sometimes, he brings it to bear on you. He will focus in on you, like they say the greatest politicians do, right? And you’re just like, wow,” the actor said with an impression of himself swooning.

Naturally, Kimmel had his own Tom Cruise story to commiserate with. “He just has a superpower where he is relentlessly friendly,” the host agreed. “My dad cornered him and talked to him for like, an hour and a half once and then he didn’t mind that.”

“But then that’s the thing, it doesn’t add up on paper!” Offerman replied enthusiastically. “He did the same thing with me and Megan. When we arrived at his birthday party — Megan screen tested for ‘Risky Business‘ back in the 80s and so … And he stood there and talked to us for 20 minutes, and then when we left, he came running out and talked to us for another 20 minutes. There were at least 100 people in this party. If everybody got 40 minutes, it doesn’t add up.”

“Maybe there’s more than one,” Kimmel riffed. “Is that possible?”

“Maybe he has mastered quantum physics and he’s existing in more than one timeline,” Offerman replied.

The actor also talked about the experience of making his first blockbuster, but that, too, eventually circled back to praise for Cruise.

“I come from theater, and then I come from independent film, so things are like let’s focus on the scene work, because that’s all we can afford. We’re not going to blow anything up. We don’t have any actors that are willing to hang off of a biplane,” Offerman said. “So it’s utterly fascinating to work with people of this high degree; the whole crew, just on every level. And to watch Tom and Chris McQuarrie, the writer-director — we call him McQ — to watch the two of them do this mad scientist thing where they’re workshopping and sculpting the movie into the most thrilling, exciting thing.”

Kimmel’s reply? “You really are in love!”

You can see the full interview in the video below, but the Cruise chatter starts around the 9-minute mark.

The post Nick Offerman Says He Fell in Love With Tom Cruise After One Day on a ‘Mission: Impossible’ Set: ‘Charisma 101’ appeared first on TheWrap.