RUSSIA: Hollywood star Tom Cruise visits Russia for the first time to promote his latest film

Record ID: 386107

  • Title: RUSSIA: Hollywood star Tom Cruise visits Russia for the first time to promote his latest film
  • Date: 27th January 2009
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOM CRUISE, ANSWERING A QUESTION ON HIS IMPRESSION OF RUSSIA, SAYING: "Incredible. The people are amazing - you know what we read about Russians - very warm, interesting - and the city is very alive. I love walking around... the history - I just can't wait to come back." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE WITH TOM CRUISE, DIRECTOR BRYAN SINGER AND WRITER CHRISTOPHER MCQUARRY ON STAGE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOM CRUISE SAYING: "You know, in growing up, we all wanted to kill Hitler and the Nazis." CAMERAMEN (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOM CRUISE SAYING: "The places that I grew up in America, you know I really, as a child, I dreamed of coming to different places and learning about the history of that place and the culture..." SECURITY GUARD IN BRIEFING (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOM CRUISE SAYING: "...and I remember as a child I wanted to come to Moscow, I wanted to come to St Petersburg, I wanted to come to Russia." WOMAN SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOM CRUISE SAYING: "I think the way Bryan Singer wanted to approach this film is it's classic but it's almost neo-classic the way that he approached it, even though the history itself, these actual events occurred and it was a story I hadn't heard before and it just really fascinated me and when I was reading the script I just couldn't stop turning the pages." WOMAN FILMING CRUISE ON MOBILE PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR BRYAN SINGER SAYING: "The intention of the film was not to be a biopic, a biographical picture, or a docu-drama of some kind, it's meant to be a suspense thriller surrounding the July 20th plot." WIDE OF BRIEFING VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Embargoed: 11th February 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Reuters ID: LVADGCSAZCW337SJFZ51JI4OD4TI
  • Story Text: Hollywood star Tom Cruise was in Moscow on Monday (January 26) to promote his latest film "Valkyrie".
    Fans braved freezing temperatures as they waited for a glimpse of the star, who walked the red carpet outside Moscow's Pushkin cinema where the premiere was held.
    This was Cruise's first visit to Russia and he was enthusiastic.

    "The people are amazing - you know what we read about Russians - very warm, interesting - and the city is very alive, " he said, adding, "I love walking around, the history - I just can't wait to come back."
    The World War Two thriller "Valkyrie" is based on a true story and details the unsuccessful attempt by German soldiers to kill Hitler.
    In the film Cruise plays Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg who plants a briefcase bomb under a table at Hitler's military headquarters. A heavy wooden table saves Hitler and Stauffenberg is executed with his co-conspirators.

    "You know, in growing up, we all wanted to kill Hitler and the Nazis," the Hollywood star of major blockbusters such as "Top Gun" and "Mission Impossible" told the press during his visit to the Russian capital.
    Cruise said he had always dreamed of coming to Russia as a child.

    "The places that I grew up in America, you know I really as a child I dreamed of coming to different places and learning about the history of that place and the culture and I remember as a child I wanted to come to Moscow, I wanted to come to St Petersburg, I wanted to come to Russia,"
    Cruise said.
    When asked why he was attracted to the film, Cruise cited the director Bryan Singer's approach to historical events.

    "I think the way Bryan Singer wanted to approach this film is it's classic but it's almost neo-classic the way that he approached it, even though the history itself, these actual events occurred and it was a story I hadn't heard before and it just really fascinated me and when I was reading the script I just couldn't stop turning the pages", said Cruise.
    Bryan Singer said his version of Stauffenberg's story was intended as a movie thriller based on real events.

    "The intention of the film was not to be a biopic, a biographical picture, or a docu-drama of some kind, it's meant to be a suspense thriller surrounding the July 20th plot," said Singer.
    Stauffenberg's legacy helped ease the burden of guilt about World War Two and the Holocaust Germans still endure. But Germans had balked at the prospect of Cruise playing Stauffenberg as they objected to the actor's ties to Scientology, the movement founded in the 1950s by science fiction writer L.
    Ron Hubbard.
    Germany, which does not recognize Scientology as a religion and regards it as a cult, made it difficult for the crew to film in the Bendlerblock building and courtyard where Stauffenberg was shot dead.

    "Valkyrie" also stars Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy and Eddie Izzard. It opens in cinemas across Russia on Thursday (January 29).
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register