Tom Cruise in the Summer comedy Tropic Thunder.

Tom Cruise says he feels inspired by Ben Stiller after working with the actor/director on the spoof comedy Tropic Thunder, opening in theaters August 13th.

“One can’t fully appreciate what he has accomplished in acting, writing, directing, producing, and starring in a film like Tropic Thunder without recognizing that any single one of these functions alone is a full-time job,” Cruise, who enjoyed a cameo in the movie, says in the September issue of Men’s Vogue.

Tom says he jumped at the chance to appear in Tropic Thunder when approached him with the “dream project” he had been working on for over eight years.

“To make a long story short, I read it, I loved it, and we started working on it,” Tom says.