Due to this early hour of this call I was half asleep while listening in to Ving speak. Asking a question, no chance. However the people who did asked decent questions and I thought Ving was pretty honest with his answers. If you are a fan of Ving, you will dig the read.

Below is the transcript of the conference call. Also if you missed it, take a look at the conference call with J.J. Abrams here. Hope you enjoy it.

Fred Topel:  Hi Ving. 

Ving Rhames:        Good Morning. 

Fred Topel:  Good Morning to you.  I remember you once told us that Mission Impossible was Tom Cruise’s vehicle, and you were happy to just sit in the van.  Is that still the case?

Ving Rhames:        Well I think what we did with this one I think first of all it is closer to the television series, and I quote J.J. Abrams he said, “Look if you have Ving  Rhames, use him”.  So I think what we see this one is it is a little bit more team oriented, a little more ensemble oriented of course Tom is the lead, but I really thing we really take full use of the skills of the other members of the team.  So I think this one is closer to the television series, and I think what J.J. Abrams brought to it as a “I think before this, I think he has only done television”, but I think he just brings a freshness, and an enthusiasm with it, and also more than ensemble feel, and I think some of that is with his television background with the series “Lost”, and “Alias” you know of course there is always a lead character, but the lead character becomes… you get to know who the lead character is by the way the other characters react to him, and I think we capture that with Mission III.

Fred Topel:  Are you surprised that they have kept your character through the whole series?

Ving Rhames:        No, I am quite an actor so yes I am not surprised at all.  I think that… I said that jokingly, but I will say I think Tom and I have very good natural chemistry, and I think you even get to even see more of that in this film.  As a matter of fact some of the conversations that we have in this one, it could be two friends at bar having these conversations.  We have them in the middle of a dangerous situation, but I think it is truer to how men, and friends relate to one another, and I think through that you learn more about who Ethan is, you learn more about his past, his present with the “Love Interest Story Line” in this one, and I think the audience will now invest more in his character because you know more of his personal life as opposed to the other two.  It dealt more with even as the Impossible Mission force leader, and you know you very rarely did you get to see him in a situation outside of the action hero.

Fred Topel:  Thank you. 

Angela Dawson:       Thank you.  Good Morning Ving.

Ving Rhames:        Good Morning.

Angela Dawson:       I wanted to ask you since this is your third outing with Tom do you feel that your relationship with him has kind of developed as well as your character’s?

Ving Rhames:        Yes, and I think that of course I have known Tom now ten years, and I think sometimes what happens is you can have two “Good Actors” and they could not be necessarily the best chemistry between them in the relationship on screen could not work.  I think Tom and I have very good chemistry off camera, and I think we were able to utilize that on camera.  I know… myself watching it, and from other reviewers watching they have said to me that him and I have it just seems like we go back a long ways, and that is true we do go back like ten years.

Angela Dawson:       Okay.  And did you feel that the fact that J.J. added a little bit more humor to this film that, that kind of made it more human in some ways? 

Ving Rhames:        Well I think that, and I think also you know J.J. is a former actor.  J.J. is a writer, and a director, and J.J. is also younger than their previous two directors, so I think that his hand is a little closer to the pulse of mainstream America especially you know I think J.J. is in his 30’s like mid 30’s so I think he is a little more in touch, so I think the elements of humor, the love story line I think this one is just a little fresher, and honestly think he put things in it that will appeal more to women having a whole love story, and I am stressing love story verses a sex story.  I think in the other two it was more there might have been a woman who was a sexual interest more so than love.  So I think what J.J. brought to any other to writers was just something extremely fresh, and authentic that an audience will grasp.

Angela Dawson:       Okay thank you.

Ving Rhames:        Good Morning Reg.

Reg Seedon:            Hi Ving, how are you?

Ving Rhames:        Very good.

Reg Seedon:            Right on.  Let me ask you, which was the most challenging location to film at?

Ving Rhames:        Maybe Shanghai because what I feel with Shanghai we were filming it like… it seemed like 5:00 a.m. in the morning, and it was cold, and… Shanghai I do not know if you ever been there, but you know there is quite a bit of smog in Shanghai, so it was really it for me I flew in, and lets say I got in at 10:00 a.m. at night, and then I had to be on the set at like 4 or 5:00 a.m. in the morning so that was probably the most challenging for me.   

Reg Seedon:            And J.J. Abrams as a director how did he get the most out of you as an actor? 

Ving Rhames:        Well, I would say first of all one thing he did with the script he decided to utilize the team more, and I think second of all J.J. being an actor he speaks of “Act of Language” I call it.  So I think he connects with actors in a different way then many directors who were not former actors relate to actors.

Reg Seedon:            How is suspense in this movie compared to the other two?

Ving Rhames:        Did you see the film?

Reg Seedon:            Of course.

Ving Rhames:        What do you think?

Reg Seedon:            Challenging.

Ving Rhames:        I think… I will sum it up by saying this; I prefer this, but I hate using the word best, but I think this one stands out over above the other two due to it is a human story with tons of action, and the other ones I think might be action might have come before the story.

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