That Gaby Roslin Podcast: Reasons To Be Joyful - Hayley Atwell

Episode Date: July 11, 2023

Actor, Hayley Atwell, joins Gaby to chat all things Mission Impossible and joy! They discuss her training for the film, choreographing fight scenes, the importance of props and what makes her belly laugh. She talks about how her character in this new film differs from previous "femme fatales' and about her love of the stage. They discuss how Hayley's theatre work has influenced the big-screen performances she does, and why films and theatre - and all art - should be made for the audience. Mission Impossible 8 is in cinemas now... ...and listen out for our Show n Tell episode, with Hayley, on Friday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

and welcome to another episode of Reasons to Be Joyful. This week I am thrilled to be joined by a superstar actress. I met this person years ago and have watched her career go from strength to strength. She is one of the stars of the new Mission Impossible film, which we'll talk about in this episode, as well as playing Peggy Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films and many, many other movies and TV shows too. I am, of course, talking about Haley Atwell,

and I caught up with her last week. hope you enjoy it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Haley, your fiancé proposed to you in Venice. Did he run down the streets like Tom does in the film? I would say that he did the opposite of that. He was in his pants in the kitchen. Okay, okay, that's fine.

I want more details now. There was an accordion playing outside of our window. On purpose? No. But, I mean, timed perfectly, but not planned. And he was doing my way and a very repetitive version of my way throughout the whole day. And we went to this Airbnb that had loads of shelves with porcelain ducks on them. And so it was quite a surreal setup.

And I had said to him, you know, Venice is my most precious destination. I've always had a weird kind of connection with it. So he took me there. And so it happened there. And did you know it's going to happen? I mean, yeah. We talked. I mean, I designed the ring myself.

I mean, I was like, come on, dude, you know, don't waste my time. But there was a spontaneity about it because he planned and did everything. And we didn't have the conversation. We didn't break the fourth wall about it happening. We just sort of kept in the moment with it. And the ring is beautiful. It's very special as well, very precious. I love that you speak so beautifully of him and your eyes light up,

but you're here for two days. and you actually haven't seen him. I know. Or the dog. Okay. I know. So we were in, so far, we've been to Rome, London, Abu Dhabi, Korea, Sydney, back here in London for two days and we go to New York and then Tokyo.

So in what space? It feels like five weeks in total, I think it will be. Why are you not? Why are you not dribbling? Because jet lag, do you not get jet lag? Yeah, but we have, I mean, I guess it's like anyone who travels. lot. You work out what the hacks are and you sort of, when the jet lag comes in, you go, oh, here we go. And you know, you're familiar with it. And so you sort of pace yourself

throughout the day. But it's like a bit like we were talking before we began chatting on Mike, that when you do something that you love, it is energizing. You know, this is, that you build of a momentum for it. But I'm so proud of this film and I've so loved working with everyone in it that I'm excited. You know, I might be knackered and I'll have a nap later. But talking about it gives me a lot of energy. Oh, I completely get that. So without, okay, so you and I know each other away from all of this. But I left you a voice note yesterday because I've, honestly, hand on heart, I promise I wouldn't

lie to you, I absolutely swear. I think it is the greatest action film I have ever seen. It's my number one, not just because you're in it. I promise you, but it is fantastic. I was so out of bread. Even though I'm, so I WhatsApp you, I typed you one. And then I thought, no, I have to leave you. leave your voice note because I got into my car and suddenly my car buttons, I thought,

oh, what are I going to do? What are I talking about? I know how to drive my car. And then I was driving along hysterical. Just going, oh, oh, and then the train. And I just thought, calm down. I had to pull over because I was so hyped. It's like the best adrenaline ride and I didn't, and it's a long, long film.

And I didn't want it to stop. And when it stopped, I couldn't move because I was, was disappointed there wasn't more, and I know there's more next year, but congratulations. You must, no wonder you're not tired. It's fantastic. Oh, thank you. Yeah. That, it's, and that was four years, you know, and four years of my life making it.

And I remember actually, though, that it would affect me in my personal life. So I remember walking the dogs early on in my training. And I didn't realize sort of the new strength I'd found even sort of my upright posture. So walking with quite a lot of intention down the road. And I remember this guy. kind of went, whoa, it kind of came out of my direction. And I realized, gosh, I must look like that guy in Terminator 2. Have you seen this boy?

I was like marching down the road, just walking my dogs. But it affects you. This film was designed as a pure cinematic experience for the audience in the bigger screen possible. It feels like a ride that doesn't let you out of its grip until the very end. And I remember saying to Tom, I was like, how long is this film? Is it? Like, how are we doing running time? and he said, Haley, it is as long as it is entertaining.

I thought that's a great response because he's watching it going, am I still with it? Is the audience still with it? Are they still captivated? And he goes, it doesn't actually matter how long something is. You can watch something that's really short and feels like it's three hours and vice versa. So that's what he's done so brilliantly

is kind of create this runaway train of a film that just transports you. And then, of course, you leave and you get in your car and you feel like you're in it. Oh, my word. How do you train, though, for something like this? I mean, because you do, and everybody knows, and you talk about it all the time, and I've got a great story to share with you about Tom.

But how do you train to do your own stunts as somebody who hadn't necessarily done this sort of thing before? I mean, he had, but you hadn't. Yeah, I mean, he's been doing it for, you know, decades. So part of the screen test involved a physical test to see how quickly I could learn a choreograph fight sequence. And Wade Eastwood, who's the stunt choreographer, has worked with Tom on so many missions. and lots of other films. He's observing me working with one of his stunt guys to see where my natural skill set is,

what my natural style is. And then looking at... Oh, that's clever. Yeah, and he's going, okay, so she's quite... She's really strong, lower sense of gravity, so probably more wrestling style. Then I started working with props,

and I found that I would learn a choreograph fight faster if I had a prop in my hand, and I swear that's because of theatre. You know, what I always loved about working with theatre is that it's a great way of extending the subtext into physical action. So I could convey to an audience what I felt about this conversation by the way I was sipping my cup of tea or the way I was stirring sugar into it. Okay, I'm not going to try and work it out. So go on, sip your water and see if I can, she's rubbing her banana. Okay, I'm scared.

Stroking a banana. Stroking a banana. But you can, so I, and I found that, you know, that's just something that I learned in drama school that I really loved. It's like props are, oh, props my thing. So when I was given knives, it felt that I was just able to learn a choreography. That's incredible. So they're really observing it. And then Tom and Chris McCoy, the director, came into the screen test and they watched, they watched the end of it when I'd piece together some certain things.

And then Wade would take them aside and go, okay, this is where her natural ability is, this is where her natural ability is, this is where I feel we could get her. love that way. So it's collaborative, you know. It's not forcing you to do something that you really feel awkward and you can't do it and you go home and you feel... Failed. Yeah, there was no sense of that. There was, even in the screen test with the scene,

McHugh said, we find the actor we want to work with first and then we create the character with them as we go along. I love that. So the physical program of it and all the scenes of the dialogue, you know, we've been watching my... How I kind of cope under pressure. Like where my funny bone comes out, how do I, my natural speech patterns, what happens when, if I'm wearing a certain kind of colour on screen,

does that make me look more strong or more vulnerable? They're looking for all the things that the camera is doing for me, and then they create the character of grace with that. So it's a hugely expansive, creative feeling you get from them. But it's so exciting that it's not shoehorning somebody in for all the wrong reasons. Yeah, this is created for you for all the right reasons and, as you say, for the enjoyment of the audience. It's never feel, it never feel self-indulgent.

It's really funny. I mean, Simon Pegg, he makes me laugh. Every time I interview Simon, I just sort of laugh before I start talking to it. I don't know, he's one of those funny people. But all of you are very funny. There's these wonderful asides and there's this, but it's all about the audience. And I feel passionately about that for film,

for theatre, for television. If there's any self-indulgence up there, you just sort of switch off. And it's not self-indulgent at all this film. It's kind of, it's self-aware, it sort of knows, it's got a tongue and cheek, it's kind of winking a bit. But it's not, hey, look at us, aren't we clever?

No, never. And I really appreciated that it, I never felt objectified. And the women in it are not in slinky dresses just using seduction as their main tool of power. You know, there's lots of different, distinctive qualities and personality types that we bring into this. And I felt with grace as well. I felt like I wanted to elevate her from one thing. I didn't want her to feel the femme fatale,

the ice queen, the engino. I was like, how can I create nuance with her? And that kind of chemistry came naturally out of that. They were wanting to see more of who I was and then go, okay, let's use that. And so it felt that I was, I could try lots of different things. And they would say, they said to me in the edit, you know, Eddie Hamilton, who's a brilliant editor, and he edited Top Gun as well. And he's going, you gave us so much range. It meant in any tape, we could dial it up. We could go to Haley at number nine or Haley more comedic, Haley more vulnerable, Haley more reckless. And so it wasn't until I saw the film that I could work out what they had edited and what they'd gone for and you've got this character

that becomes sort of consistently inconsistent. And I thought, well, that's new in an action franchise and as a leading lady, that feels fresh. She's, reckless but she's also self-assured she's got self-doubt she doesn't know what she's doing but she does it anyway she's brave she's kind of messy i think you're sort of explaining you though as well that's you and that's why it works so brilliant as all of us it's very interesting just just smiling you when you're saying that i feel incredibly proud of you and i and i i don't mean that a patronizing way it's just what you've done and what you you've done and what you what you've done with this film or what you've done with your career

because I remember seeing you in View from a Bridge and I interviewed you for, I think it was the Duchess, I think. But it was View for a Bridge, I'm not going mad. You weren't, yes. Yeah, yeah. That was years ago, years and years ago. And you own what you're doing without saying, look at me. And I think that's what I mean about non,

that you're not self-indulgent at all in everything you do. and my daughter loves Agent Carter and all of that. But you're an actor. And I know that's really weird. You take on everything. This generation's Judy Dench. Whatever you do, you take on and you do it with full aplomb, but without, hey, look at me, aren't I great?

And that is what I mean about feeling proud of you. Oh, thank you. No, I really mean it. Well, it's, it really interests me actually that you said that of not being, get a sense that I'm aware that I'm being watched because there's that brilliant book that John Berger wrote, the ways of seeing. And it's more about studying painting, really.

And it's often on the syllabus for a lot of art degrees, whether that's photography or painting or even acting, screenwriting. But there's the thing in it that really struck me and it said that a lot of the time, whether it's a female subject in a painting, or it's a model or an actor. There was a trend for a long, long time where he said, you know, men are depicted watching

and women are depicted watching themselves being watched by men. Oh, my word. That's fascinating. Quite a statement, isn't it? And then he showed examples in classical paintings and his sculptures of that and also scenes of men and women in the same picture. and then also starts to talk about it in film.

And I thought, oh, that's, he was also saying something about culturally that we do as women tend to feel aware of ourselves as we present in the world, rather than men kind of get on with what they're doing in a direction of like, oh, want to go and do that now, I'm going to do that now. It's more active and more sort of they get to where they're going, whereas women go, how do I look as I'm getting there? That's so interesting. Yeah.

And I thought, that's so, and part of my sort of maturity as an actor, was going, and this is also a great antidote to feeling overwhelmed by public interest, which I've not really had that much of, but when I have had it, I've gone, you know, all the years when I was in my 20s and more self-indulgent and more sort of concerned and self-conscious

as we all are back then. I thought, well, at that time though, I was aware that I was being watched, but also what was I watching? What was I looking at? What was I consuming? And then that feels much more actually, and empowering and how can I now take that into my work.

So what were you watching? Well, I was really, when I was younger, I was really into philosophy and like esoteric work and arts, you know, going to museums, going to, you know, spoken word readings. I was massively into Kate Tempest, still am. And those sort of, you know, looking at the work of the great, stage actresses like you know if you've mentioned judy dent Fiona Shaw Juliet Stevenson Cape Blanchette Tilda Swinton and going I don't look like them you know they're so distinctively individual themselves and they have their own kind of handsome beauty and I was they felt they took

their craft seriously but not themselves and I and I thought oh that's a that's what I want to do and you lose yourself in the work because it's not for you I'm not here to exercise a demon yes it's for the audience well That's exactly what comes across. That's exactly what comes across. But also, when I've done, when I did my research and reading about you, that I love what you said about the Photoshopped. That really resonated because I do worry a lot.

I've got two girls and they're 16 and 22. And so much of what they consume on social media is Photoshopped or, filtered or whatever, whatever, whatever. And for women, it's really, really, really tough. And I love what you said when somebody said to you, oh, you look great or something. And you said, yeah, the Photoshopped me or whatever. I'm probably misquoting you.

Because you had your own insecurities. And you've been, you've talked about that as well. And what people were saying to you, which is disgusting. But that's another thing that you've held onto that. You really have it. I feel you're very real. Again, I'm going back to what I said. Very real.

And also, that's sort of such a necessary part of being an actor. Because like you said, people can smell it a mile away if you are not real or not authentic. The performance becomes manipulative or forced or wooden even. And my development of an artist actually means part of my job is to be as well-rounded an individual as possible. And so that I can also keep learning. And then I'm also not, and I could see it,

I could see it from a young age and I would definitely fall into these traps again and again and again. Or find myself pushed into them and stay in that hole of either, you know, self, like, body shaming or self-doubt or like overwhelm of rejection or projection of other people onto me, all that stuff that we all experience. And yet at the same time, I would go, I've, I, I, I, what is it that I'm in it for and what do I love? And how can therefore that direct my life? And how can that be more sustainable? And how can I decide not to and actively practice not giving my body shaming a voice today? And how old were you when you started, when your brain clicked into that?

Were you like that as a teenager? I was, I was like that at drama school. because I remember at one point they said, you know, pick up a Shakespeare speech and we'll study it. And I remember going, oh, you know, I'd like this one, the jailer's daughter, I think it was. And I remember Patsy Rodenberg said,

I'm going to tell you something now and you need to get over it. You're very beautiful. And if you deny that, it's not being honest because you have an impact on people because of the way that you look. Also, don't let that limit you. There is huge privilege that comes from that, but there is also so many trappings

that is going to prevent you from actually developing as the actor that you should be. So you've got to stop kind of denying it but also stop being that interested in it. And I remember going, oh, no, but really, oh, does she say I'm attractive? Oh my God, like, well. And I, but I also knew, though, that when I would see these amazing actors on stage,

their beauty was sort of transcendent of the physical because it was, without sounding spirit, They were lit from within. And they had character, and they had a humanity that meant that I was leading forward. And I was like, that is also going to last longer. And so I definitely had my struggles as I worked through all those stages. And then, but I then also going, also, what am I consuming? And if I am spending my time looking at fashion magazines, then I'm going to, you know,

or on the daily male website, you know, sidebar of shame, if you go into that sort of gossiping, tabloid place, it becomes so toxic. And all consuming. And really, and also, you know, the scariest thing is the apathy that kicks in when that kind of level of consuming content becomes normal. And it desensitizes me from my own humanity and also the way that I look at other people, particularly other women. And there is a kind of an incessant sense of women being pitted against each other. And I don't think that we do. I don't, my girlfriends, I love, them when they thrive I thrive and and I want to promote that and so I had to sort of go okay it it really is my responsibility to resensitize myself to that feeling of what I love and how I can

move beyond this this toxic normality that has is actually keeping me stagnant creatively you know so you know going back to the training of Mission impossible there was never a sense of this is how we want you to look. This is what we want you to get your body to achieve. All of that was a natural byproduct of what the training was, which is how can she be dynamic? So exciting. How can she be, how can she be sat next to Tom Cruise, handcuffed in a Fiat 500, and play that all in a two shot because she's entirely connected to it? And you did that, but that was for real, because you really did that. It's just, it's the most awesome yellow Fiat 500. I mean, That car.

Trixie, we nicknamed it. Oh, just love that. Chris McQuarrie was like, I'm not getting in that car. It was the scariest piece of equipment on set, for sure. Really? Because it had a mind of its own, it was built with this extraordinary engine, so it just meant that it was so sensitive to the turning of a wheel, and it would just go around in circles without having to do anything.

But that, the amount of fun, because I love things like that. I like a zip wire. There's no zip wiring in this one. Maybe in the next one. Next one. I'll watch it. Yeah. Can you just put Zipwiring just so when I come and see, I go, yes.

We'll love to go Zipwaring together. In the jungles. I would love to do that. Oh, my God. Okay, the best place to Zipwire over the Zambizi at Victoria Falls. Wow. Yeah, my husband got stuck because he was so terrified. Because you have to do that jump, that initial jump off it to go.

Oh, it's fantastic. See, I love it. It's exhilarating. Oh, my God. I mean, me saying Zipwari to you, when you've hung from trains, actually don't, no spoilers, because I showed my husband. husband a behind the scenes clip yesterday because he hasn't seen the film yet. And he said, why did you show me that?

Because it's everywhere. But I don't look everywhere. I want to see it myself. Okay. So no spoilers on the film. But it is brilliant. So you're filming the next one now. I thought you'd finished filming it.

No. I mean, when I first came on, we thought, oh, it's probably going to be about a year, both films back to back. And it will be, when the next one comes out, it will be five years. Oh, my word. It's, yeah. And so good job, I love it. Because it's...

And also you never get as an actor and you never get a job that long unless it's a serial. You know, a network show. And to be with that group of people for that long, you know. You're a Hollywood leading lady. It's just so exciting. It's so exciting.

Years and years and years ago and I was trying to work out what year and I think it was for Vanilla Sky, but I can't remember. But I interviewed Tom. And he said, then, I love doing all my own stunts. What I want to do one day is do stunts

that are going to blow everybody's mind. I'm going to do them all. I'm sure they won't let me. Hey, cut to, maybe 20 years later, look at this. But he's very much, this is his baby. And also he doesn't take himself. Look, I don't know. I don't know. You know him very well. He's a friend of yours.

But I get the feeling he doesn't take himself too seriously, but he takes the job seriously. Is that right? Completely. He's, it's a, it's a real beautiful balance I can see he has with, you know, he's, he's been doing this for so long. So he carries his fame with a lightness. And he is a natural extrovert.

So he gets energy from being around people. I'm a introverted extrovert. So I need to refuel by being alone, you know. I get that. Right. I'm like, I need to switch off. Yeah. And also when I, if I'm in too many social situations where I'm at a party,

I get shy moments. I get shy moments. Yeah. Or if I go, I don't know what this is for. I don't know what to do when you're standing around. Yeah. In real life, I talked about this, that shy thing. We go, oh, please can I go now?

It makes me doing. Yes. Yeah. And so I, he doesn't have that. He never has that. Never has that. And I remember actually asking him once and we're in the... I asked him in the Arctic because...

As you do. As you do, when we were standing on the ocean. I was like, you know, I've... Sometimes I get nervous or self-pherson. conscious in big events where there's lots of big personalities in the room where it's a Hollywood event or it's a BAFTA thing and I'm very sensitive to atmosphere and people and energy and I can read it and so if someone comes in I can I can end up feeling what they're feeling and then realizing it's not mine you know so you're having to be careful about the creating a boundary right

so I was asking him you know how he does it or asking him what can I do when I feel self-conscious And he said, know that when you walk into any room, you're going to be, there's a lot of input of stimulus and energy coming at you. And he said, the thing to do is to look back at it. So be curious about it. So rather than again, like letting it consume you go, why do I feel this way? What am I picking up in the room? Oh, is it that look over there? Or do I feel uncomfortable with this person?

Or, oh, there's a person over there I really want to talk to. And so you're getting out of your own head. And he's always up just engaged. So I think that engagement in the outside world and his spatial awareness is what he takes into the dangerous stunts that he does. I've never met someone who is meticulous and so precise in absolutely every aspect of the physical side of what we do. So we spent so much time.

I mean everything he does? Or you mean just in the sort of the stunts and all of those things? Or do you mean in life? I mean in life, but I think there's, you know, he's sort of, He can be when we're on a set, and he's really serious because he's aware how high the stakes are. So every time we'd get into that Fiat 500, even though we'd spent a day in it, every single time we'd get back in and he would check, is the door closed properly, is the wheel locked? Where are the sharp bits? Haley, check behind because what if you hurt your head on that? Oh, my word.

He's pointing at everything. He's looking at the wheels. He's looking around the car. He's looking to see if from the last time that he was in it, has it changed in some way? Something got caught in it. And that means that he can perform recklessness without being reckless. And even with the motorbike jump off a cliff, he spent, God, I think over a year designing that with engineers. So he'd created this quarry that he could jump into with the bike

where he was on a zip wire for that. There you go. Yeah. Zipwire. and he'd practice jumping off, jumping off, it wasn't as high as that, off the motorbike into boxes

while he was suspended on the zip wire to see how high, how far he needed to jump to get away from the motorbike so it wouldn't get caught in the canopy of his parachute. How fast he'd have to go off the ramp to create enough momentum to do that, also so that he didn't bang into the wall,

like to the bowl of the mountain. And they would track, kit so he had all these trackers on him and you'd look at all the data and so the design of that is just flawless but of course there's always a danger because it's real you know and he's got no helmet it's not a stunt person doing it I know I love that people talk about no he's not wearing a helmet hello what about the rest of his body yeah that's not going to help yeah and then even the things of when they said we said you know this isn't how do we get close-ups there aren't cameras that are they need to be lightweight enough and dynamic enough.

And also the card reader would need to survive the crash of the motorbike and be retrieved to get filmed in, you know, get that film on screen. And so they invented the technology that could attach to the motorbike. I have a behind the scenes video of it, so I'll post it when it's appropriate. They invented technology to be able to do these things. So they didn't just do these things and film it. They invented the way to do these new. stuns? Yes, yes. And that mentality is what he takes into everything.

That's thorough. Because he's, I think Tom believes that we are naturally creators, whether we're creating a conversation with each other, where we're redesigning our bedroom, whether we're having, writing a piece of music, where we're in a state of play with our... But does he ever, does he ever take his shoes and socks off and relax? Does he ever just sort of sit back? I don't want to say in his pants, but I'm, you know, in a pair of shoes. and just go, oh my God, I just want to take away pizza and, you know. Oh, yeah. I mean, I've seen him polishing off huge amounts of amazing food and we've gone out for dinner and

the curry, the famous curry. Everyone talks about the curry. Two curries. Two curry crews. Love that. Love that. Yeah, and he had his birthday and we had, you know, we had cake and had the steak and but he does relax.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I think, you know, he takes his work really seriously and he's very energized by it. But then that's what I mean about the back. balance is that when you can, with him and he's just hanging out. Good. Yeah. There, you can tell, I'm like a mother.

Just so long as he has some time. It's all right. He's, yeah, he's to care. He's good at him to care of himself. Does he know about you being whipped? Have you told him that you were whipped recently? Should we explain that? Because people go, what?

Probably needs some context. So this is you in downtime. You went to a Turkish. A banja. A banja, right. Explain, please, because you're the second person that's told me about this. Oh, I love it. I love it.

So part of the training was also the importance of rest and recovery for the body. So they were. So important. Actually, it's important for all of us. We all need to do it. Totally. Yeah, and that's how, you know, if you're training as an athlete, you have, what you eat, to where, how much you sleep, to monitoring the quality of your sleep.

All that becomes really important. And so I got into sort of different fun stuff. And I found this banier around the corner from where I live. And you go in, you wear this felt hat like noddy. Yeah. And to keep your kind of head from overheating. And you go into a sauna. You have a hat on to keep you from overheating?

Yeah. It's like this felt hat. Okay. That was that, that's what they told me. Okay. Or maybe they're just, maybe they're laughing at you and they just want to make you feel like, oh. I'm going with it.

Are you dressed? Are you naked? Bikini. Bikini. Okay. Or if it's the same sex session, then people are invited to come in their birthday suit. Okay.

And it's often sort of more middle-aged guys. who sat there with their naughty hats, which I think is so adorable. And then you'll put on this table in the sauna, in the middle of the sauna, and you are sort of whipped with these branches. I think it's eucalyptus and birches in there as well. And it creates great blood circulation,

gets the heat deep into your muscles, and then they pour a bucket of ice water over your head and you go into a ice pool, a plunge pool. I love the sound. It was, I'm sure it was you. I think you did tell me about this. And ever since, I thought, I want to do this. And I couldn't remember what it was called.

Right. So you go in the plunge pool. What happens when you come out of the plunge pool? They whip you again. No, you go and sit in a booth. And the thing that I haven't kind of worked out is the tradition. It's a Russian tradition. And they would go and do that.

But they'd spend a whole afternoon there because it's quite a communal experience. So then you'd go and sit in a booth and you'd order beer. You'd order crayfish. What? Cabbage, various fermented, vegetables. See, the fermented vegetables I'm fine with. Well, but in a sauna?

Yeah, no, I can do for me. I can do pickles anywhere. Oh, okay. Yeah. All right. Anyway. Oh, you'll love this then. Right.

And you can go, you go and you just hang out or you drink tea and then you go back in. And I'll do like four sessions, come out feeling. You feel amazing afterwards. It really helps with jet lag, you know, and it's great for the endorphins, great for the blood circulation and you sleep like a baby. So what it now, if you don't want to go to this place or you haven't got place like this, all do you need to do, fill the bath up with hot, water. Yeah, exactly. Put a towel on your head. Yeah, yeah. Or a piece of felt. You know, I have a piece of felt. Do you remember we used to have those at

school? Squares and felt that you used to sew on. Did you do that? God, you know, I did. That reminds me, I was at primary school and there was an art and craft session in the afternoon and you could go to the box and pick out scraps of material and make collage and stuff. And I remember the square felts was in there. And I remember getting a piece of material that I found in one of the drawings. And I was in one of the drawers. and cutting a massive hole in it. So this is a nice pattern. And then my teacher screaming at me going, that is my shirt.

No. And I had to misassembly. I got to tension. But I met because, and that was right, because I had, it was like, how did his shirt end up in the box of, well, that was my thinking. I was like, well, I'm sorry, miss.

Why is he taking his shirt off in class? Where are you changing into? Like, what are you doing here? But I remember I'd take. I was taken green, remember that thick thread. Yes. And was weaving this white and grey stripy shirt bit of material with this. I was like, I'm going to sew this onto a bit of sugar paper.

You see? You had style in those days. Oh, do you know what, Haley, you are a complete joy. You're a properly true person. You're real. You're so real and you're so lovely. Thank you so much. Congratulations on Mission Impossible.

Like I said, I think it is the greatest action film ever. And the other thing I said to my husband was James who? Nobody, I don't think we ever need it again because this, this just surpasses anything. I've never seen anything like it. And you just a kick-A. Thank you. It's so nice to speak with you again.

Isn't she fab? I love Haley Atwell. And it was so nice to spend some time with her. And if you haven't seen Mission Impossible yet, then I would highly recommend it. It is so good. Thanks as ever for listening and look out for our bonus episode with Haley, which will be released this Friday. Remember to subscribe and follow the podcast wherever you listen and I'll be back next week when another fabulous actor will be joining us, David Harewood.

Until then, bye for now.