Teaching Tom Cruise about sealskin: Inuit star in new Mission Impossible movie

Lucy Tulugarjuk plays Tapeesa in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning from Paramount Pictures and Skydance. (Paramount Pictures and Skydance)

By RCI, CBC News

Lucy Tulugarjuk reflects on her role and the future of Inuit in cinema

A couple of years ago, Lucy Tulugarjuk got a call while she was working on a film in her home community of Igloolik.

It was a call asking the well-known Nunavut director and actress if she wanted to be part of the new Mission Impossible movie — The Final Reckoning.

“Once I heard Tom Cruise’s name, I accepted the offer without thinking,” she said.

She said she didn’t tell many people she’d acted in the movie, apart from a few family and friends.

“It was really exciting to be at the theatre with my children and grandchild and to see their expression when they see their mother,” she said.

Tulugarjuk plays Tapeesa, an Inuk who lives in Alaska, where part of the film is set.

She said she was originally only supposed to be in two scenes, until a rehearsal in London, England, when the director and producer suggested putting her in more scenes.

Sharing Inuit culture with Tom Cruise

She remembers the first time she met Tom Cruise in person.

“I felt like I was dreaming … I shook his hand and then pinched my cheek because I had to make sure I was awake, that it was real,” she said.

She said her favourite part of filming was talking with other actors about the Arctic while working in Svalbard, Norway. Tulugarjuk taught them tricks to prevent their hands from getting too cold, like sticking your thumb inside your fist.

“Giving them that advice before we went to the ice was something that was very neat to share.”

They also saw polar bears while on set, and Tulugarjuk said she saw it as another opportunity to teach her fellow actors, including Cruise, about Inuit uses for polar bear and sealskin in Nunavut.

“They learned first hand how important it is to have a real fur when you’re living in the North.”

Inuit on the big screen

She said she hopes other Inuit who see her on screen recognize that they can do it too.

“Even if you don’t have the experience in acting, as long as you believe in yourself and dedicate your whole heart … you can make it work,” she said.

“Living in a small community does not limit us, as long as you have a goal. Finish your school, do what’s right for you.”

Jacky Qrunnut, from Igloolik, also has a role in the film. He said he got the role after Tulugarjuk contacted him because the film needed a few extra shots of Inuit.

“It’s not much of a big role but it’s a role nonetheless,” he said.

He said one of his scenes was shot in a massive indoor pool in London to simulate the ocean.

“The fake ice was so real-looking,” he said.

Qrunnut also remembers the first time he met Cruise.