BILL NIGHY - NIGHY DEFENDS CO-STAR CRUISE

NIGHY DEFENDS CO-STAR CRUISE

British actor BILL NIGHY has defended his co-star TOM CRUISE's religious beliefs after filming on their new movie was jeopardised by German authorities' Scientology concerns. 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."