Sean Ambrose

Lore & Background

Sean Ambrose is introduced as a rogue IMF agent who betrays his former colleague Dr. Vladimir Nekhorvich. Disguised as Dimitri, Ambrose uses sleeping gas on everyone aboard a plane en route to Atlanta, steals the Bellerophon cure, and jumps out before the plane crashes into the Rockies. He later uses a video of Chimera infecting one of Nekhorvich's colleagues to blackmail Biocyte's CEO, John McCloy, into cooperation. Ambrose discovers Nyah's deception when his right-hand man Hugh Stamp's bandaged finger reveals that the subdued 'Ethan' is actually Stamp in disguise. Enraged, Ambrose and his men chase Ethan onto the mainland, where Ethan kills them in an extended fistfight on the beach.

In Their Own Story

Ambrose's plan unfolds in Sydney, where he forces Nyah to retrieve the last sample of the Chimera virus, but she injects herself with it instead. He releases Nyah to wander the streets, intending to start a pandemic. At Biocyte's storage facility on Bare Island, Ambrose offers to sell Bellerophon to McCloy in exchange for enough stock options to make him Biocyte's majority shareholder. Ethan infiltrates the base and fights Stamp, then uses a mask to impersonate Stamp while bringing a subdued 'Ethan' (actually Stamp) to Ambrose, who executes him. Ambrose discovers the deception when he sees Stamp's bandaged finger, which he had earlier cut with a cigar cutter for questioning his trust in Nyah. Ethan kills Ambrose in an extended fistfight on the beach, then gives Bellerophon to Luther, who injects Nyah with it.

Reader's Guide

Sean Ambrose is portrayed by Dougray Scott. He is a rogue IMF agent who possesses Bellerophon, the cure to the Chimera virus. Ambrose is the former lover of Nyah Nordoff-Hall, a professional thief recruited by Ethan Hunt to trace him to Sydney. His right-hand man is Hugh Stamp, played by Richard Roxburgh. Ambrose's henchmen include Wallis (William Mapother) and Ulrich (Dominic Purcell). During the final fight scene between Ethan Hunt and Sean Ambrose, Cruise insisted that a real knife be used, attached to a cable and carefully measured to stop a quarter of an inch from Cruise's eyeball, with Cruise asking Scott to put his full strength down on the knife for a realistic look.

Did You Know?

• Dougray Scott played Sean Ambrose but decided not to play Wolverine in X-Men due to scheduling conflicts and injuries from a motorcycle accident while filming Mission: Impossible 2.
• During the final fight scene, Tom Cruise insisted a real knife be used, attached to a cable and measured to stop a quarter of an inch from his eyeball, and asked Scott to put his full strength down on the knife.
• Ambrose's right-hand man Hugh Stamp is played by Richard Roxburgh, and Stamp's bandaged finger (cut earlier by Ambrose with a cigar cutter) is the clue that reveals Ethan's disguise.
• Ambrose uses a video of Chimera infecting one of Nekhorvich's colleagues to blackmail Biocyte CEO John McCloy into cooperation.
• Ambrose releases Nyah to wander the streets of Sydney after she injects herself with Chimera, intending to start a pandemic.