Tom Cruise prepared for his role as a Nazi assassin in new movie VALKYRIE by studying American movie icon John Wayne.
The actor wore an eye patch to play an injured World War II colonel leading a plot to assassinate Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in the film.
And Cruise called upon a 1969 western movie starring his Hollywood hero to get him through the dizzying experience.
He tells U.S. talk show host David Letterman, "I remember as a kid seeing John Wayne in True Grit. He had the eye patch - I didn't realise.
"I got a little nauseous when I first put it on. I lost depth perception, I was banging into things, I thought of John Wayne on the horse, and what it must've been like for him. He made it look so easy."