The Mission: Impossible franchise history is littered with a who's who of stars join Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt on his world-saving missions across seven films, including names like Anthony Hopkins to Rebecca Ferguson. Mission: Impossible 8 continues this with the addition of a veteran of Star Wars' Mandoverse who appears poised to be one of the breakout stars of 2024.
It was announced on Wednesday that Katy O'Brian is set to join the cast of Mission: Impossible 8 according to Deadline, adding to an already stacked cast that features Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and many more. However, her role is reportedly being kept tightly under wraps for the time being as are many other parts of the next Mission: Impossible film, though there have been rumors she could appear as the film's lead villain.
While some movie-goers still may not be familiar with O'Brian's name, they may recognize her face from her appearances in both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars in recent years.
She acted in several short films during the early 2010s but her first major role was as the Savior Katy in season eight of The Walking Dead, appearing in five episodes. She then landed her first leading role in season five of SyFy's Z Nation as Georgia St. Clair, the leader of Newmerica.
Additional early credits include Black Lightening, Westworld, Sweet Girl, and The Rookie.
A Star on the Rise
O'Brian's first outing for Marvel came in the series Agents of SHIELD seventh season as the character Kimball, a member of the villainous Nathanial Malick's crew. However, she got to join the MCU proper on the big screen for 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania as Jentorra, a resident of the Quantum Realm who helped lead the resistance against Kang the Conqueror.
Within Star Wars, she appeared in seasons two and three of The Mandalorian as Elia Kane, an Imperial officer who served under Moff Gideon on his ship and later as a spy for the Moff on Coruscant within the New Republic Amnesty Program.
2024 was already poised to be a big year for O'Brian on the movie screen, as well, with the releases of Love Lies Bleeding and Twisters.
Love Lies Bleeding is her first leading role opposite Kristen Stewart as aspiring bodybuilder Jacky, who finds herself sucked into a world of crime and chaos as a result of her relationship with Stewart's Lou. O'Brian's received largely positive reviews for her performance as Jacky, with most critics and audiences pointing to her sheer physical presence and chemistry with Stewart as two highlights.
While her role in Twisters has not been confirmed, O'Brian joins yet another star-studded cast led by Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones in the sequel to 1996's Twister starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton.
Mission: Impossible 8 is scheduled to release in theaters on May 23, 2025.
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