Movie Q&A with Tom Cruise

Q DID you know this story?

A NO, I just knew pieces of it. The bomb under the table, I knew how that ended, but I still found it an utterly compelling film. Reading it in history, it was like a suspense thriller.
And to see when we finally finished the film and put it before an American audience was quite an experience.
I’m looking forward to going to Europe and Germany to share it with them also.

Q HAVE your feelings changed about Germany since making this movie?

A I’VE been to Germany many times and walked the streets and I’ve always had wonderful experiences and I have many German friends. But to know this piece of history absolutely changed my viewpoint.

Of course, you know it’s never everybody. I met many, many people who would share their family history, the stories of what happened to their parents, to their lives afterwards and before, of what it was like for them and looked at the photographs.

It’s a subject matter that has always fascinated and horrified me, actually. Even as a child, I remember seeing documentaries about World War II, the Holocaust, and Nazi Germany.

Q WHAT did you think of the costumes?

A THE Germans had great uniforms, great designs. But there was a perversion with those things. My immediate response was: “I hate this uniform.”

But I had to get used to seeing myself wearing it, although it was disturbing to look at the world from that perspective.

(Source: The Daily Record, UK)