BILL NIGHY

Cruise is playing World War II hero Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg - who led an unsuccessful plot to assassinate Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler - in Rubicon.

However, efforts to shoot the movie on military sites were thwarted in July (07) by Germany's Defence Ministry, allegedly because Cruise's Scientology beliefs are viewed as a "money-making cult" instead of a legitimate church by the German government.

But Nighy - who has already defended the film as a "heroic tale that deserves to be told" - is now urging greater tolerance for Cruise's views.

He says, "It doesn't make sense. I can't see the point of persecuting an individual for what they believe. Whatever they believe."

Source: WENN