Tom Cruise as "The Last Samurai"? Director Edward Zwick ("Legends of the Fall," "Glory") must have blown a bundle on stuntmen and CGI to pull that off, right? Wrong. The actor dove into his role as a Civil War hero-turned-Japanese feudal warrior, training extensively and working hard to nail his own stunts. MTV News' Ryan Downey sat down with the star and got the inside scoop on the difficult process and impressive results. MTV: I've got to apologize because this is the second time I've underestimated you. I'm a huge Anne Rice fan and I thought, "Tom Cruise as Lestat? No." And then I saw "Interview With the Vampire" and you sold it, I was in. This time I thought, "This is going to sink him, this won't work. A samurai movie?" And "The Last Samurai" is among my top five movies this year. Is it your plan to show everyone you can do anything?  "I just knew I was going to do everything I can to make it work ..." — Tom Cruise Cruise: No, I was curious whether I could do it either, you know? With Anne Rice and "Interview With the Vampire," I just knew I was going to do everything I can to make it work, and the same with this character in this picture. You don't know until it is done. You have belief and a vision [of] where you want it to go. You believe in the people you are working with and you just go with it and hope it works. MTV: You did all your own stunts. Tell us about that. Cruise: That was cool. It took me a year to prepare to be able to do that. And it was incredible. The character development and the physical change that I had to make for this film were hand-in-hand, that transformation. I didn't know whether I would be able to do that either, just with the flexibility and strength. I ended up putting on about 25 pounds of muscle. You're talking about 12-hour-long days for these sequences and a lot of maneuvers, and changing the maneuvers on the day. It may not seem like a lot, but I had to be able to do it, not just kind of like, "OK, you move here." When I'm working with a guy I've got four or five guys around me. ... I really have to have spatial awareness of where these guys are and as skilled as they are, if someone makes a mistake or someone is not on that exact step, you've got to be prepared enough to see it coming and know and adjust to keep the sequence going. MTV: This wasn't wires and CGI; this was old-school. Cruise: Old-school, bring it, swingin', hope I don't hit you, really hope you don't hit me.  "The Last Samurai" Photos MTV: Tell me about your co-star Ken Watanabe. He has that Chow Yun-Fat presence. Do you think we are going to see a lot more of him after this movie? Cruise: Yeah. I think he and Hiro [Sanada] are tremendous actors. I really want to see that happen for Ken and I think it will. It's going to happen for both of them because they are so talented. Wonderful sense of humor and dramatic and charismatic. MTV: My favorite scene in the movie is when you are on the boat and the narration explains the stillness of the sea and to forget what's behind you and what's ahead of you. Do you ever wish you could have that stillness and be away from this? Or do you have that? Cruise: I do have that in my life. Absolutely. I have that stillness in my life. And it's what's kept me where I am. I feel a tremendous happiness and stillness. Check out MTV Movies for more from Hollywood. E-Mail this story to a friend What do you think of this feature? You Tell Us...
	Photo: Warner Bros.