14 DAY TRIAL // Tom Cruise seems to have made his way back into the graces of the movie-going public with his latest WWII drama “Valkyrie.” Even if the film got off to a rough start, eventually it turned out to be an advised choice for the actor – and perhaps the connection that Cruise had with his character had something to do with it, as he just told Reuters that he grew up wanting to kill Adolf Hitler.
In Seoul, where “Valkyrie” just premiered, Cruise told the media that, even before he came across this script, he often wondered how come no one dared even to attempt to assassinate the Fuhrer. Therefore, it was this that connected him to Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg, whom he gives life to on the silver screen, that could have been behind of him putting such a brilliant performance, as the critics are calling it.
“I always wanted to kill Hitler, I hated him. As a child studying history and looking at documents, I wondered, why didn’t someone stand up and try to stop it? When I read the script, it was entertaining and informative to know what the challenges were and what it was like to be in the environment.” Cruise said during a press conference for the movie, as quoted by Reuters.
At the same time, the actor admitted that, even if there were many obstacles in the way of making “Valkyrie,” at the end of the day and looking back, it was really worth it. The German authorities were, for one, adamant that Cruise would not play the Colonel, given his ties with Scientology, which is not recognized as a religion and is considered just a cult here, and access to the Bendlerblock building and courtyard where the Colonel was shot dead was granted only after repeated pleas.
“I’ve never heard of this story before... It turned out to be an incredible adventure, just to be there and shoot at these locations that Stauffenberg was. It was a very powerful experience and hopefully it will communicate with the audience. It has certainly influenced my life, just knowing that there were people who tried to stop him [Hitler].” Cruise added.