Tramell Tillman Is A Freaking Star

the man stole a scene from Tom Cruise in a Tom Cruise movie

Is Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning a good movie? I saw it days ago and I’m still not sure. I guess it depends on your definition of “a good movie.” Are you looking for a coherent plot and character growth and scenes that tie together and explain the action? Hmm, maybe not then. But are you looking for a fun time where everyone does everything and Tom Cruise dangles from airplanes and almost drowns in submarines and Angela Bassett is the president and Tramell Tillman shows up as a rascal submarine commander to steal about 10-15 whole minutes right in the middle? Because if you are, buddy, this is a movie for you.

I’m serious about the Tramell Tillman thing, by the way. He full-on swipes a whole chunk of the movie right out from under Tom Cruise, even though he is right in front of Tom Cruise the entire time. It’s kind of incredible, honestly. He does this thing throughout his time on screen where he refers to Ethan Hunt as “mister,” and not like the other characters do where they grumble “Mr. Hunt, what do you think you’re doing?” He talks to Ethan Hunt like you would a mischievous child, phrasing the same inquiry as “What do you think you’re doing, mister?” It cracked me up.

The fact that he was this charismatic in a limited appearance probably does not surprise the people in the audience who know him from his breakout role as beleaguered and menacing middle manager Mr. Milchick on Severance. He does so much with so little on that show, filling in the parts of the character that are purposefully left vague with a devious little twinkle in his eye or a half smile that scans as ominous. I somehow want to know everything and nothing about this character, my curiosity and delight at the mystery clanging together in my head like a marching band. Yes, I used “marching band” in this example to post the marching band scene from Severance. Skip ahead to 1:30 to watch a charisa bomb go off.

It’s the same with this character on the submarine, too. Part of me wants a whole spinoff about him doing submarine things in a movie that doesn’t require Tom Cruise to risk bodily harm. Part of me never wants to see him again, just to have this one little sequence burned into my brain. Tillman discussed some of this in a recent interview with USA Today.

“This is a man of mystery, and I'm not shy (about) playing men of mystery,” Tillman says with a chuckle. To differentiate from the character from Milchick, “I added a little more humor, a little more joy, a little more suave, and more intention of how he takes care of business.”

He certainly did add those things. I would follow that character to the bottom of the ocean if he looked me in the eye and called me “mister.”

This is where it gets tricky, though, back here in the real world. I have the same feelings about Tramell Tillman as an actor as I do about his performances. He has been so, so good in these limited, mysterious roles that part of me wants him to keep playing them in as many things as possible. He would be incredible as the manager of a White Lotus resort. He would be a perfect villain in a Bond movie, all charm and calm and he sits at a desk with an aquarium filled with barracudas behind him. The mustache must stay in either situation.

But there’s another part of me who wants to see him get a crack at something bigger, a big deal protagonist, to see if the presence and charisma that burns white-hot in those smaller roles can hold up over a longer period. I don’t know exactly what that looks like, whether it’s an action movie or a comedy — this man has comedic chops, I am sure of it — or maybe a movie where he wears a turtleneck and sunglasses and steals a priceless work of art. I would watch any of those movies. Especially that last one.

The only thing I know for sure is that Tramell Tillman is a star. You can’t steal a scene from Tom Cruise in a Tom Cruise movie without having star quality. Where this goes from here is a mystery. Tillman may be comfortable with mystery, which is great and all, but I’m not. I want to know. Someone please cast him in a heist movie so I can watch it and find out.

STUFF I CLICKED

— I read so many things about the truly wild season two finale of The Rehearsal

— like this one

— and this one

— Mike Ryan interviewed the biggest surprise of the new Mission: Impossible movie

— this Wired story about the rise and fall of a psychedelic kingpin is paywalled but holy Toledo, it is wild

— holy crap, this news anchor went into labor and finished the entire program anyway

— say what you will about the second season of Poker Face — it’s messy but I’m enjoying it — but there are not a lot of shows where an alligator snorts meth and eats it owner

— interesting piece on whether you can or can’t trust those headlines from Cannes about movies getting “8-minute standing ovations” or whatever

— dudes rock

— Joey Merlino, former Philly mob boss (ALLEGEDLY), would like to tell you about his new cheesesteak spot

— kind of obsessed with the dude who sailed to Hawaii with his cat

— man wakes up to find whole-ass cargo ship in yard

— learned about orange cats

— the Adam Conover crypto saga continues to be weird

— Tom Cruise is apparently “very serious” about making a whole movie as his Tropic Thunder character

— more importantly, I really must insist you see how Tom Cruise eats popcorn

— The Onion is still so good: “‘Advertising Doesn’t Work On Me,’ Says Chosen One Who Will Lead Humanity Out Of Dark Age Of Commercialism”

— this is from April but I just saw it and I giggled for like 30 seconds at the umpire’s safe call

Okay, that’s it for this week. Sorry it’s a day late. Please like and subscribe and upgrade and try to be half as cool as Tramell Tillman