Darlene Donloe:       All right, thank you.  I wanted to ask you, you are definitely the comic relief in this film.  Do you find it more difficult to do comedy than drama?

Ving Rhames:        No, and I also… I basically try to play the truth of the moment, the truth of the situation, and nine times out of ten when you watch the film I am not trying to be funny.  I am trying to be as honest, and as an… if anything I look at me more as a straight man.  I guess I have been amused with the audience response to my character, my character’s relationship to Ethan, but it… I have always been taught to just play the truth of the situation, and if comedy comes out of that or drama, whatever comes out of it at least I am playing the truth of the moment to moment reality, and so that is what I try to do as an actor. 

Darlene Donloe:       Thank you.

Peter Dimako:         Thank you.  As far as working with the (inaudible)… and a new team goes, how is that for you?

Ving Rhames:        I am sorry.  I cannot understand… I cannot hear your question.

Peter Dimako:         I said as far as working with a new team in this one in comparison with the other one how is working with the new crew?

Ving Rhames:        I think having the new actors come along; I think they added something that we did not have in the first two.  One is a couple of “I want to say women who could do stunts very well, and play action well, and we did not have that in the first one”, and I also think with Jonathan Rhys-Myers we got a very talented young actor who has won a golden globe, and I think the first day of filming we filmed on the Tiber River, and we spent 12 hours of just Tom’s character driving us on a speed boat up and down the river so we got a chance to bond, and for Tom and I get to know the other two actors in this case that was Maggie and Jonathan, so I really thing we were very fortunate in this film that the new members that we brought on we all get along.  I have known Lawrence Fishberg for like 20 years, and I just met Philip Seymour Hoffman, but you know he is a fine actor, so we were just… I think this one sometimes during a film where all of the pieces of the puzzle fit, and I think we must have that on this one.

Peter Dimako:         Thank you.

Angela Dawson:       Yes Ving, I wanted to ask you what kind of advice would you give a friend done a dangerous job about getting married?

Ving Rhames:        hmmm I always say I do not think men should get married before 35.

Angela Dawson:       And why is that?

Ving Rhames:        One, I think women mature “quicker”.  Two, I think a man is focused on his career sometimes even with women, so maybe I would say with woman 32ish, but I think that a lot of times now both partners in a relationship have to work.  Things are very expensive especially depending on if you live in the big cities, and two, I think by the time you are… for a male 35 if your career in whatever it is you do it is not fully firm, and financially secure you are probably on the way.  So that is why I stress… and I think also at 35 a man has been through… and I am generalizing, but lets just say you have been through college, you have probably been through several relationships, and you have probably have done enough running around where it is like, “You know what?  I would really like to settle down, and meet a quality woman and raise a family.  So that is why I give men 35, and I probably say with women somewhere between 30 and 32. 

Angela Dawson:       Thank you.

Wilson Morales:        Yes, hey Ving it is actually Cams Williams for Wilson, how you doing?  I was wondering were you a fan of the original TV show, and if so who was your favorite?  Peter Graves?  Barbara Bain?  Martin Landau?  Greg Morris?

Ving Rhames:        I never really watched the original television show.  I think I watched it when reruns of it when I found out I was doing Mission I, but I never really… I never watched TV series.

Wilson Morales:        Okay thanks.

Fred Topel:  Hello again, I was wondering this particular mission went through kind of a rough development, was there any point were you worried that it might not come together?

Ving Rhames:        No, actually the development of it I think for discussion sake lets say I do not know if it was six months or a year apart, but there was another Director originally, and once they brought on board the new Director, I mean even locations changed, and sometimes you have artistic or creative differences.  So for this one… I also say no I never really put much energy into things that I cannot control.  So I do not even worry about it.  I do not really think about it heavily.  No, I was like look the first two made quite a bit of money, so just from a business point of view I realize that most likely number three would happen, but there was no guarantee, but I honestly felt in my heart and soul it would happen.

Fred Topel:  Were you previewed to any earlier versions of the script?  Do you know how much you…

(Cross talk)

Ving Rhames:        No, I was not.  No, there was no… I mean literally even reading this one you have to sign a legal document stating you could not talk about it, you could not make duplicates of this script, so no.

Fred Topel:  Well… cool.  Thanks.

Mary McIntyre:        Good Morning Ving, this is Mary McIntyre from Jeanie Wolf’s Hollywood, and I was wondering on this big, big movie what is the most fun part about making a blockbuster like this for you?         

Ving Rhames:        Well this one was really… it was a lot of fun, and I think you know Tom comes in he sets a certain professional standard in… I do not know this one I think the cast it was a little younger, and just… this was fun.  The other two some of them seemed a little more like work.  This one really seemed like fun, and I think… I really applaud J.J. and Paula Wagner, and Tom for… the set was… I mean there was never an angry moment.  J.J. never had to raise his voice.  It was very… I cannot explain it.  I can just say I honestly feel that sometimes I had to feeling with Pulp Friction where every piece of the puzzle sort of works, and fits, and come to work was just a pleasure.

Mary McIntyre:        And also all these exotic locales and stuff did you have time to explore?  Did you…

(Cross talk)

Ving Rhames:        Oh yes, I think I only worked maybe one or two days in Rome, and I was there for about ten, and I think also we did the Pope, and all the historical sites, and what have you, and a lot of nice restaurants, and in China… Shanghai… Shanghai I think because of the Olympics it was going through a lot of building, and what have you.  That one was a little… Shanghai was a little more hectic because they were construction all over the place, but we got to see all of the historical sites there, so every place I go I always try to get a sense of the cultural, and especially the architecture buildings, and what have you so it was quite enjoyable.

Mary McIntyre:        Well, thank you.

Hanh Neuyen:          Hi Ving.  I just wanted to find out what your favorite scene was to shoot. 

Ving Rhames:        Wow, lets see.  I would probably say when Tom jumps off of that “100 Story Building”.  I think it was… I was on the roof with him so seeing him do that… I mean, and he did it about I do not know anywhere between six to ten times.  I was pretty amazed with him, and he wanted to do it even more.  So that to me just watching J.J. shoot that was probably the one that touched me the most, but I think really the editing of the whole sequence in Rome the Vatican is probably my favorite.

Hanh Neuyen:          So were you really nervous for him when you watched that scene?

Ving Rhames:        Yes with Tom jumping off the roof I was a little more nervous then the other so, and since I was there just brought up feelings of… you know people do not like to have a talk like this, but what happens if a stunt goes wrong?  See, and so that is always… maybe not the first time, second time, third time, but the more you do a stunt the more you increase the risk of something happening.  So the great thing was the stunt guy, Vic Armstrong, and then his whole team was excellent, but we were very fortunate that nothing went wrong, but people do not realize there is that possibility that something could happen.

Hanh Neuyen:          And when… while you mentioned that your relationship in the film between Ethan and Luther it is more banter this time, it is more relationship, and you are also the voice reason whenever he gets these crazy ideas.  How would you like to see your character expanded in the future if there are sequels?

Ving Rhames:        There will be a sequel, but I would probably say, “I think we are on the right path”, and I did not give them any notes on how to expand my character in this one, but I think what the writers knew, and I really applaud J.J. for this is that the more you see the main character interact with people around him the more you learn about him.  I learned more about you with your mother, your father, your daughter, your brothers, your cousin then I am learning about who you are by how you relate to people close to you, and then how you relate to strangers.  I think J.J. knew that as a writer, so I think that is why we tapped into some things that I think is a bit more human than the other two, but I think we will continue to go into the path… I was talking to Tom last night, and Tom realized that in one… in Mission I we had a element of that my character, and his, and they decided after watching one and two, that in two we were lacking that element.  You really did not see Tom interact with people that much accept the quote of (inaudible)… the “Bad Guys”.  That people that was on a personal level outside of him being IMFH.

Hanh Neuyen:          All right.  Thank you very much.

Ving Rhames:        Thank you.