Cruise 'star-struck' by Streep and Redford

Tom Cruise has revealed that was so in awe of his co-stars in new film Lions For Lambs that he struggled to stay focused on his performance.

The actor appears alongside Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in the movie, which tells the story of a platoon of soldiers in Afghanistan, a senator (Cruise), a reporter (Streep), and a college professor (Redford).

But he admitted that he was so star-struck by the veteran actors that his concentration often wavered during filming.

He said: "No way was I ever going to turn down that opportunity! There were moments when we were filming, when I was sitting across from Meryl, looking at her porcelain skin and those blue eyes, and Redford would come up behind her to give me a piece of direction, and it would be like I'd walked into a scene from Out of Africa.

"Redford would say something and I'd have to say, 'Sorry, I missed that... uh... could you say it again?'"