Ben Stiller's Cruise admiration

Sep 20, 2008, 4:00 GMT

09/19/2008 - Ben Stiller - Tom is aces... "Tropic Thunder" Rome Photocall - Hotel St. Regis - Rome, Italy © Insidefoto / PR Photos

Ben Stiller "admires" Tom Cruise.

The 'Tropic Thunder' star - who cast Tom in a hilarious cameo role in the new comedy - has always had a huge amount of respect for the actor, and insists the criticism he gets is undeserved.

Ben said: "When Tom was coming on the scene he was sort of like a matinee idol, this sex symbol. But he chose to work with really interesting directors and that is why his career has had that longevity.

"It's a hard business. You have to make choices. And I really admire these people who made their choices early on, who had that instinctual sense of where they wanted their careers to go."

Although Ben has massive respect for Tom, he recently revealed his 'Tropic Thunder' co-star Robert Downey Jr. kept "giving him s**t" on set.

The actor and director says Robert - who stars as Oscar-winning actor Kirk Lazurus, who has his skin altered to play a black man - criticised him for his directorial style.

He said: "I did not want to f**k up my Robert Downey Jr. experience.

"But Downey would give me s**t when we were shooting, in a funny, good natured way. I'd be, 'He's making fun of me for doing so many takes. Oh God!'

"But it's clear how much he respects the process. He's always been so funny, so this is not new territory, just new context."