Sean Harris was desperate to be killed off in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation.
Director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise reunite for the fifth instalment of the action series after previously working on several projects together, including last year's Edge of Tomorrow. Tom's agent alter-ego Ethan Hunt is back on top form as he fights to defeat an evil group called the Syndicate.
Sean plays Syndicate leader Solomon Lane, but Christopher had to go against one of the actor's wishes when casting him.
"The funny thing was that Sean Harris did not want to be in this movie... He didn’t want to be in a franchise movie. He’s just not that kind of guy at all. And when I finally convinced him to be in it, the first thing he said to me is, 'Promise me you’ll kill me. Just don’t bring me back, because I don’t want to be in five of these movies,'” Christopher recalled to screenrant.com, adding that Sean kept begging the director to send his character to death.
Luckily Sean's arm was twisted and he eventually came to his senses, realising Ethan and Lane battling it out to the end wouldn't work for the storyline.
"And I said [to Sean], 'You’re right. We’ve just come to the same conclusion,'" Christopher recalled. "And he just responded, 'What have I done' At that moment we knew we weren’t gonna kill him."
The filmmaker finds evil a "tough concept" to handle, as he doesn't agree with a villain being bad for the sake of it; although Heath Ledger as The Joker is an exception for him.
Christopher decided to keep Lane somewhat of a mystery, but worried if his evilness would come across clearly.
"It’s just a pain in the ass. It’s a pain in the ass coming up with a villain that is creating chaos in a way that is satisfying," Christopher sighed.
"The other problem with Lane you may have noticed is there’s not a great deal of onscreen chaos caused by him. And that was something that I really struggled with throughout the movie. Is he doing enough' Is it clear enough what he’s doing'"
