Tom Cruise's Tropic triumph

1 month ago 27th Sep 08:15

'Tropic Thunder' sees comic heavyweights Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. united on screen in a story of three actors who find themselves stranded in the jungle while filming a war movie.

With such a stellar cast, including a widely publicised cameo appearance from none other than Tom Cruise, fingers were crossed that the film would live up to the extraordinarily high expectations both fans and critics worldwide had set for it.

'Tropic Thunder' also sees Ben - previously famous for his roles in comedies including 'Zoolander' and 'Meet The Parents' - in the director's chair for the fourth time.

It is clear Ben feels comfortable in the helming position and his enthusiasm for the project is infectious.

"I've been working on this movie for a while," he explained. "I had the idea for the movie like twenty years ago when I was doing 'Empire of the Sun' in 1987 because at that time that's when all these Vietnam movies were being made.

"Then the idea came that it might be cool to have a movie about a bunch of actors that get stuck out in the jungle on a movie and are caught in this real situation. So literally over the last ten years we've been working on the script in different and various forms. I would go away for a few weeks on vacation or something and work on it."

As director, Ben had the deciding vote on who landed the leading roles, and he eventually decided on Robert and Jack.

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