In Jumping the Broom, due out on May 6, Paula Patton and Laz Alonso play an engaged couple that has its strength tested when their families - who come from very different backgrounds - meet each other for the first time during the wedding in Martha's Vineyard. The film is the second time that they have worked together, but they also have something else in common: they both have extremely high profile projects coming down the pipe, with Patton starring in the Brad Bird-directed Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and Alonso possibly returning Tsu'tey in James Cameron's Avatar 2. Earlier this afternoon I was fortunate to sit down with both actors as part of a roundtable interview and took the opportunity to inquire about the new movies.
First signing on last September, Patton will be playing a member of Ethan Hunt's (Tom Cruise) team in the third Mission: Impossible sequel, but not much else is known about her character or the plot. After asking about how her character will fit into the story and if she, like Jeremy Renner, is being set up to be part of the franchise's long term plans, Patton admitted that she couldn't answer "80% of the question" due to being sworn to secrecy, but did open up about what the opportunity meant to her and confirmed that the action won't exclusively done by the men in the cast.
"Mission: Impossible came as a surprise. It was an incredible opportunity for me, especially after being pregnant. I got to do all my own stunts. I got to be a very fierce, badass chick, if I can say that. It was a dream come true in many ways to be able to play this character, and she… that’s all I can say! It was great. It was an amazing experience for me."
Responding in much the same way that his co-star did in regards to Avatar 2, Alonso recounted how, while working on Avatar everything was kept very hush-hush with very little about the production getting into the press and out to the public. I then followed up by asking if he was officially returning for the sequel, to which he said, "I don't know. You never know." One of the other reporters present then said that they hoped he would return, to which Alonso replied, "I hope so too."
While the answers were fairly vague, I will say that I'm very happy to hear about Patton getting in on the action for Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. After three movies, only Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames have returned for each one, while actresses like Emmanuelle Béart (for obvious reasons), Thandie Newton, Maggie Q, Keri Russell (again, obvious) and Michelle Monaghan have never lasted more through more than one film. Patton is proving herself to be one of the most charismatic and talented young actresses in Hollywood, and it would be great to see her break through that barrier.
