TOM CRUISE SHARES HIS LOVE FOR SA ON STAGE
Actor Tom Cruise shared his love for South Africa and its people while accepting an award. He was awarded the David O. Selznick Achievement Award by the Producers Guild of America on 26 February.
During his acceptance speech, he referred to his time in South Africa. He filmed some of Mission Impossible 8 while here and was impressed with the country’s Ubuntu philosophy.
“My whole life, I wanted to make movies. I wanted to travel the world. I wanted adventure.”
Travelling and adventure were definitely on his list of things to do while in South Africa.
“I just got back from filming in South Africa. It’s an absolutely stunning country. And there is a beautiful philosophy – it’s Ubuntu.”
He explained the term to the audience: “It is the idea that humanity is based on the plural, not the singular. Ubuntu means essentially, ‘I am, because you are.”
He even mentioned South Africa with a special mention.
“I thank, I thank all of you. I am, because you are.”
The actor became a regular in the Hoedspruit area where several scenes of the franchise’s eighth instalment were filmed.
Locals in the town made a habit out of greeting him in the morning when his helicopter left to take him to set and were even there to greet him again in the afternoon upon his return.
Image credit: Good Things Guy