Paula Patton Lands Lead Female Role In Upcoming Film Paula Patton has landed that female lead role in the upcoming Mission: Impossible 4 film. She was testing alongside actresses Lauren German and Kristen Kreuk . I'm told that Patton will play a young operative who works with Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt character. She is mostly known for her appearances in the films Idlewild, Déjà Vu, Mirrors and Precious . Patton is married to songwriter/singer Robin Thicke. The film will not be called Mission: Impossible 4 . Cruise and JJ Abrams, who hatched the project together, always envisioned it as a franchise reboot. The film begins production in the fall with Brad Bird directing Cruise, who'll co-star with The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner in what was another hotly contested role. Paramount co-finances the $140 million film with David Ellison's Skydance banner. It marks the first film for Cruise and Paramount since he left the studio after generating over $3 billion in wo