American actor Tom Cruise: movie star, not rock star

Cruise plays the tattooed -- and frequently shirtless -- rock star Stacee Jaxx in the tribute to the big-haired, big-riffing glam metal sound of the 1980s. But when asked if he had the choice between the life of a movie star or a rock star, Cruise said he would to stick with his day job.

“I love my job, and I feel very privileged to be able to do it. It has been a dream of mine, and I love what I do,” he said.

However, the “Mission Impossible” star makes a very convincing rocker, and he had to embrace all of his character’s rock ‘n’ roll habits. These included being hands on with his female co-stars.

When asked about this, the ever cool Cruise said he took Jaxx’s characteristics in stride. “It was a character, and it was something where you were trying to find where we can find the comedy. Comedy is different, from Les Grossman to this kind of character, and there is no half way with rock ‘n’ roll. You have to go all of the way, particularly with Stacee,” he laughed.

Based on the musical hit, the movie tells the story of small town girl Sherrie (Hough) and city boy Drew (Diego Boneta) who share a dream of reaching dizzying heights in Hollywood. Their glittery romance is set to a rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack that includes hits from Def Leppard, Foreigner, Bon Jovi and Poison.

Recording artist Blige, who also rocks out in the film, said she enjoyed embracing rock ‘n’ roll for the part. “It felt good. I mean it is the same energy as a lot of the songs that I sing, so it was very easy to do,” she said.

“Rock of Ages” is being released in the US and the UK on Friday. The film will open in Turkey in August.