Peter Graves: The Movieline Interview

Had Robert Stack, Leslie Nielsen and Lloyd Bridges joined that cast at that point? Did that influence your decision at all?

I don't know that they had. I can't remember discussing that. They might have. We were all cast around the same time. But we never worked together. I worked with Leslie once or twice in the film, but I never worked with Bob or Lloyd. When you don't have that kind of continuity, or share the some stories or feelings, it's difficult. We were off in our own solitary confinement -- me with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Did it change your career significantly?

When it became a success, I got scripts from all over the place, all playing the same character. People without taste, utterly, and I turned them all down. I went from that directly into Winds of War -- another straight character -- so no, it didn't have a big effect, except to widen an audience for me. People said, "Hey -- Graves can do more than one thing." Because believe me -- there is truth in Hollywood typecasting. Oh man.

Let's talk about that "impervious genius" you played on Mission: Impossible -- Jim Phelps. Recently, the director J.J. Abrams, who did Mission: Impossible III and the new Star Trek film, had said that he heard you're in great shape, and he wants to "seriousize" you. In other words, bring you back to bridge the gap in the fourth installment, the way he did with Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek. What would be your response if he approached you with that?

It would be good. It would be good. When the first film was made with Tom [Cruise], I certainly objected to Jon Voight playing a character named Phelps who turns out to be the rat and the spy and the killer who destroys his whole team of people -- and he himself is killed in that film. I didn't like that much. And certainly the approach to Mission: Impossible, which had been a sort of intellectual game, rather than shoot 'em up, car crash, plane crash, bang bang stuff.

And when I read something in the trade papers here about the possibility of making a number four, I thought, geez, what a great chance that might for them to bring back Peter Graves's Jim Phelps. It might lead to some interesting things. You could then bring in a whole new team of younger people. There are a million story possibilities to that -- that Phelps did not really die in that first film, and has been in hiding, or on secret missions for whatever reasons. But chronologically he is that many years older. I think there's a good bunch of possibilities in there. I hope they keep trying to develop that.

So you heard it here first. You're open to Mission: Impossible IV.

Well, yeah. Sure. [Laughs] Pictures are so hard to make, and they're so expensive. The market is changing. So I don't want to stand behind a headline that shouts, "GRAVES FOR PHELPS IN '4.'" You know. I'm lower-key than that.

Well that's exciting. I think the world is ready for it.

That's true. And I'm lucky, because tomorrow, I'm getting my star on Hollywood Boulevard, which I think is a nice thing. It's taken me 60 years to get it, but what the heck! It's an honor.

What took so long?

Darned if I know. I guess I'm a slow mover. And it sort of cuts into you when they take some young rocker or hip-hop star who makes a record and sells a million copies and immediately they put his star on the Boulevard. But, Hollywood has to survive, and Hollywood wants to attract people, younger people. So god bless the rest of them if they get them when they're 12, if it helps the motion picture business. But I'm happy with the way I've gotten mine.

Well, you're definitely overdue.

Thank you for that.

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