Years later, at the height of the remake-of-old-TV-shows craze – Charlie’s Angels, Maverick, The Fugitive and so on – Tom Cruise, then and now the biggest star in the world, thought Mission Impossible could be a good excuse to do a few death-defying stunts. And he hired Brian de Palma to direct it.

Reprising her role as Erika Sloane, Angela Bassett reflects on playing the president and the joy of seeing strong female leadership on screen.