A Son’s ‘Mission’ Too

Phil Morris says he did not spend his boyhood days dreaming of following in his father’s acting footsteps. But Morris, who plays the new “Mission Impossible’s” Grant Collier (son of original “Mission Impossible” character Barney Collier, who was played by Morris’ dad, Greg Morris), now calls it “an honor . . . to resuscitate this mark that my father has left.” (The show began its second season on ABC Thursday.)

“I feel like I’ve been doing homework for 15 to 20 years,” said the younger Morris, who was 7 when his father began work on the original series, which ran from 1966-73. “My character’s a lot more intelligent than I ever hoped to be, but, really, I feel that I’m just imitating true life.”

Although Morris grew up accompanying his father on the set and even made a boyhood appearance on the original “Star Trek” series, he said he rebelled against the expectation that he, too, would become an actor. He was more interested in athletics and art and studied automotive design. But the acting bug finally hit him when he was about 17.

“My father was doing a film . . . called ‘Com-Tac 303,’ ” Morris said. “I had a glorified extra role. Then one day my father fell down a flight of stairs and they couldn’t hold up the (movie’s) production, so they asked me to undertake the role.”

Now 30, Morris calls his “Mission Impossible” role (he plays the Impossible Missions Force’s computer and laser expert) “an ultimate adventure.”

“There’s so much that I want to do as Grant Collier,” said Morris, shortly before leaving for Australia to begin filming. “I want to cause audience members to think again, (teach us) to use our minds instead of just being couch potatoes.”

Morris hopes to do this, he said, by focusing on the international aspects of the show and using the public’s interest in covert operations, peaked by the Iran-Contra scandal, to make them think about what affects the world today.