Rolf Saxon’s Spectacular Return to ‘Mission: Impossible’ Hits Theatres 30 Years On!

For seasoned actor Rolf Saxon, re-entering the adrenaline-soaked world of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning signifies a full-circle moment, nearly three decades after his role as CIA analyst William Donloe in the original 1996 film.

Now 70, Saxon revives the character Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) once slyly avoided during the infamous CIA headquarters break-in. Though brief in the first installment, Saxon’s Donloe resurfaces in a significant way in the franchise’s eighth chapter.

“In January of ’22, I was stunned by a call about a European company interested in casting me,” Saxon shared at the New York City premiere on May 18. “When I learned it was Skydance, Tom Cruise, and Mission: Impossible itself, I questioned if a friend was pulling my leg.”

Initially doubtful during a Zoom call, Saxon was surprised to find director Christopher McQuarrie and Cruise personally invested in his return.

“He’s really got this act together,” Saxon recalled, referring to McQuarrie. “There he was in a T-shirt and shorts, and I realized they were serious.”

In The Final Reckoning, Ethan Hunt’s team—played by Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Pom Klementieff, and Greg Tarzan Davis—encounters Donloe on the isolated St. Matthew Island, where he’s stationed at a CIA surveillance outpost. This exile, as the story goes, was his punishment after the events of the 1996 film.

Reflecting on working with Cruise again, Saxon said:

“Our relationship was professional, not personal, but his dedication stood out. When I arrived on set, there was a cheer and a hug—it was beautifully nostalgic.”

Saxon appears alongside Henry Czerny, reprising his role as Kittridge—now CIA director—last seen in Dead Reckoning (2023).

Cruise, speaking with PEOPLE, expressed his excitement:

“I’ve always loved bringing back actors. These experiences shape us. The question is always: What story do we tell next?”