Looking back on her career, Michelle Monaghan remembers a particularly uneasy on-screen moment she had: locking lips with one of the greatest action heroes ever.
The actress talked candidly about shooting a sensual sequence with Tom Cruise during her honeymoon with her husband, graphic artist and designer Peter White, when she recently sat down for an interview with Collider, alongside her co-star Mark Wahlberg in Family Plan.
The night before filming, Monaghan was asked which movie made her the happiest, and she immediately replied, “Mission: Impossible III, for sure.” Of course. For me, that movie was very significant.”
“I had just gotten married and kind of skipped my honeymoon to start the film right away,” she said. “Then I remember going to work, and Tom and I had kind of an intimate scene, and of course that was the first scene.”
After work, I was anxious and anxious when my husband said, ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to follow his lead.'” It’s going to be a blast for you. It’s going to be amazing,” she said. “He asked, ‘How was it?’ when I opened the hotel room when I got home at the end of the day. It was incredible, I thought to myself. He was so kind. It was excellent. ‘How cool is it that you were making out with Tom Cruise on our honeymoon?’ he asks. since we are merely such fans.”
With a retrospective glance at the extraordinary events, Monaghan declared, “That is a testament to the man that I married, who has just been totally supportive and is excited and jazzed for the opportunities.”
White and Monaghan got married in 2005 after meeting in 2000. Their son Tommy is ten years old, and their daughter Willow is fifteen.
She recounted how White was “so proud” of her for following her aspirations and becoming successful, rather than being envious.
“I worked hard to get that role, and it was just one of those things,” she stated. “But I was very nervous, of course, the night before, and then proceeded to have just an amazing shoot with J.J. [Abrams] and Tom, and I have all the respect for them and that franchise.”
She laughed and said, “I can’t believe I shared that story, but it’s the truth.”
Regarding his experience with anxiety, Wahlberg stated that he usually has it before the beginning of a shoot.
“I’ll have the dream where I forgot the lines, I don’t have my script, nobody’s there with my pages, that sort of thing,” he stated. It’s always like, ‘Okay, let’s go,’ as soon as you finish the first shot. as soon as the cannon fires its first shot.”
Regarding their ongoing endeavor, The Family Plan, In the film, Wahlberg portrays Dan Morgan, a former elite assassin who quits his career to concentrate on his family, which includes his wife (played by Monaghan) and his unknowing children. He needs to take his gullible family on a vacation as a pretext to tie up loose ends when someone from his past returns to kill him and threaten the life he’s made.
Wahlberg and Monaghan recently spoke with ET about working together as an on-screen married couple once again — after doing so previously in the 2016 drama Patriots Day.
According to Wahlberg, he knew right away that Monaghan was the perfect actress for the role — with her talent for blending drama, comedy and action with wit and grace.
“I recommended her right away,” Wahlberg said. “I think it’s a fine line with the action, the comedy and then also you know [my character] being able to keep this secret from his wife and not making it seem like she’s just oblivious to everything.”
For Monaghan, getting to work with Wahlberg again was an eagerly accepted opportunity.
“I’ve admired Mark’s work for quite some time and so when I read the script and I had this opportunity, I jumped at the chance,” she said. “I adore him.”
