Bryan Singer has directed all sorts of movies, from the surprise-ending The Usual Suspects to such big-budget blockbusters as X-Men and Superman Returns.

But he had never directed Tom Cruise – until now.

Singer made Valkyrie, about an attempt to kill Adolf Hitler by the German army, with Cruise. There were rumors aplenty, and the film’s release date was moved several times, adding fuel to the fire. Cruise’s practice of Scientology also caused a flap in the German media, and the production was first denied permission to shoot at the Benderblock, where some of the plotters were executed (permission was later granted).

Singer spoke recently about the film, which opened Thursday, about gossip and buzz and what it’s like hanging around with big stars.

Question: Were you aware of all the buzz about the film or were you too focused on making it?

Answer: I’m very focused on making it. Whenever a film gets an oscillating buzz, it’s usually from people who haven’t seen it or have no exposure to it. So when you’re sitting there every day on the set, in the cutting room making it, it’s hard to get affected by those kind of things.

Q: But you must have at least been aware of it.

A: I’m aware of it, yeah, sure. Somebody tells me something. . . . Definitely, there’s other people who pay attention to that sort of thing. At one point we had a dispute over a location in Germany, and I called my mom from Germany and she says, “Are you coming home?” I said, “What do you mean?” “Well, I hear you’re not allowed to shoot in Germany.” I’m like, “What? Where did you hear that?” “It’s on CNN.” “Well, I’m sorry, Mom, but I have no concept of what you’re talking about. I start shooting tomorrow.”

Q: If your mom is your gossip source, you need to upgrade.

A: That’s where I’m getting my news. Now you have a sense when I say my awareness (isn’t great).

Q: But were there problems?

A: Not really in making the film, there really weren’t any. There were struggles apparently in the media, but I’ve got to be honest with you, you couldn’t tell me one struggle that occurred during the process of making of the film besides the day-to-day, “Can we get the equipment, are we losing light, is this scene working?” You know, the usual stuff. . . . The release date moved, but release dates move. I mean, on Usual Suspects I didn’t even have a release date. I think that thing didn’t come out for a year after I’d finished it. We couldn’t even figure out what to do with it.

Q: But there were a lot of rumors.

A: It seems that everything we did became a news item of some kind, a gossip item that became a news item.

Q: Perhaps having Tom Cruise in your cast had some effect.

A: Apparently that can happen, I guess.

Q: It’s amazing how crazy people go over Cruise, Brad Pitt and similar stars.

A: When you’re dealing with legendary actors and stars and things like that, you’re dealing with what I call living monuments – living, moving monuments. A lot of people line up to get their picture taken with the Eiffel Tower. And here you’ve got somebody whose work is so extraordinary and diverse, and they’re such a larger-than-life personality, that people want a picture. They want a contact. They want to climb the tower, so to speak. It’s exciting to be around that.

(Source: The Arizona Republic)