Actor Tom Cruise struggled to act on the set of his latest film Lions For Lambs because he was in awe of co-stars Robert Redford and Meryl Streep.

The 45-year-old was so keen to impress the two Hollywood veterans that he often lost focus while filming.

He says, "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?'"