Tom Cruise wants Katie Holmes to play a villain in the next Mission: Impossible movie.

The actor - who stars as spy Ethan Hunt in the action franchise - is desperate to work with his wife and believes an evil part for her in the fourth film would be perfect because he doesn’t want them to play a couple on screen.

“Tom is very excited about taking Mission: Impossible in a new direction and he sees Katie as a big part of that,” a source said. “They have wanted to work together for a while now but the idea of being a couple on screen in a romantic comedy is a bit dull. This might give them a chance to have some fun both as a couple and as hero and villainess.”

Katie - who has a three-year-old daughter, Suri, with Tom - recently admitted she loves bringing her home life into her acting roles. “In my own life, my whole world really revolves around my family. I do what I need to do, but it’s like, ‘How is everybody else doing?’ And it’s wonderful for me as an actress to put some of that into a character,” Holmes said.