If ever there was an actor, or rather movie star, that knows how to control a room full of clambering media, it's Tom Cruise. Charming, hypnotic, a man who knows how to court the media and publicise his image, whatever that may be. In a Beverly Hills hotel room, Cruise apologises for his slightly dishevelled appearance. "I've been filming all night", he says, smilingly. Dressed in black, his tired demeanour doesn't prevent him from discussing topics that range from scientology, to literacy and his latest film The Last Samurai, for which some are hinting that this biggest of movie stars may finally be recognized with an Oscar nomination. But if he is at all concerned about award recognition, Cruise isn't about to show it here. "To me, I just enjoy what I do. Success and awards are great, but the accomplishment of it is the doing of it. If I got something from my peers, people who understand and make movies, then that would be wonderful, but it's not why I do what I do. I just really feel privileged to make movies, and that's why I do it," Cruise says. Yet he dodges the key question: Does he have a responsibility to promote a film for Oscar consideration and where would he draw the line? "I always feel a responsibility to promote a film, and I am just going to promote this film. I haven't opened any shopping malls...but I may," he adds, laughingly. I do believe, like a record album, that every film has its audience and I have made very diverse films. From "Born on The 4th of July" to "Interview with The Vampire", because as an audience, I enjoy different types of movies. "Magnolia." Even "Rain Man", when we were making that... You look at this movie now, and I'm very, very proud of this film, [but] you never know how a movie is going to turn out, yet I'll travel around and I'll talk about the movie and do what I can to support it. So much of my life has gone into my films and I want people who want to see the movie to go see the movie. I know what it takes to make a film." Cruise is now on a mission to sell his latest film, The Last Samurai, set in 1876, in which he plays a tormented soldier, who had fought in both the American Civil War and Indian Wars, battles that have left him emotionally crippled. Fate intervenes and leads him to Japan and a relationship with a Samurai warrior and his family that changes his life forever. For the actor, working on this exotic epic reminded him of the first time he saw Lawrence of Arabia as a child which is when he first dreamed of becoming a part of that mythical world on the screen. "You have to understand that as a kid when I was growing up, I remember vividly being on the roof of my family's station wagon, and across the street was the Sahara Desert. I always wanted to see other places and learn about how other people lived. I began to travel and saw different cultures even within America." But he found something uniquely fascinating about Japan when he started visiting that country in preparation for Last Samurai. "I was absolutely fascinated and in awe of the culture. I found it ecstatic, the people fascinating and I just wanted to know more about their history, how they lived, and how they got to where they are today. One of the great things about being an actor, in doing what I do, is I get to travel to places like that and I learn about the people and that is the most enjoyable thing," Cruise says with a genuine passion and enthusiasm.

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