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Tom Cruise and Disney finally arrived at the box office with their tentpoles, Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning and Lilo & Stitch. Two of the most celestial Hollywood movies of 2025 are also imperative, as the spy saga is supposedly the swan song of Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and cost nearly $400 million in production (via The Numbers).
Meanwhile, the live-action remake once again pits Disney against a world in which critics, casual moviegoers, and people on either side of the political aisle are all left unsatisfied, and it’s merely the summer vacation and families with kids they’re counting on to turn up.
Interestingly, while the movies do not share anything besides their Memorial Day release date, there’s one more commonality: a fan-favorite star appears in both in supporting roles. And it’s Ted Lasso and Game of Thrones fame actress Hannah Waddingham.
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Hannah Waddingham Plays Strong Leaders In Both Mission: Impossible 8 & Disney’s Lilo & Stitch
The 6-foot-tall diva, known for her plump figure and making waves in her 40s in the mainstream Hollywood spotlight, plays Admiral Neely, the commander of the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush, in Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning. She also voices the CGI alien leader of the United Galactic Federation, Grand Councilwoman, in Lilo & Stitch.
Interestingly, both of Waddingham’s characters are top-tier figures in high-responsibility sectors, leading defense operations. And, while The Fall Guy actress has no connection to real-life aliens, naval blood runs deep in her lineage, making her absolutely perfect for pulling off the mission without shame.
Hannah Waddingham’s Grandfather’s Ties To The Royal Navy
“I come from a very nautical background,” Waddingham emphasized in an interview with extratv, before revealing that her grandfather, now 108, is the fifth-oldest man in the UK and a Royal Navy veteran from World War II. “He still speaks with a very fresh, accurate mind about the HMS Mendip that he was on during the war as a 16-year-old boy, scraping ice off the bow of the ship.”
That spirit, the 50-year-old shared, passed down to her through her father. “So the whole boat of it all, the portals, starboard and port, scrubbing decks, sleeping in metal beds, drinking from metal cups, and the tiny shower; it’s second nature to me.”
The Emmy winner’s pride in playing a U.S. Navy commander was also quite lucid. Calling the experience “unforgettable,” Waddingham recalled arriving on a moving fighter carrier holding 4,500 serving men and women. “It’s in the top two or three crazy memorable things I’ve ever done,” she went on to say. “That we arrived on a helicopter onto a moving aircraft; it was just incredible.”
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning and Lilo & Stitch are now running in theaters near you.
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