BEIJING, Sept. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Tom Cruise observed a minute of silence this weekend for German anti-Nazi heroes at a memorial site in Berlin, where the German government originally banned the Hollywood star from filming, media reports said Monday.

    Cruise made the respectful gesture before shooting a scene of his new movie, "Valkyrie," at the historic Bendlerblock building in Berlin on Friday night.

Actors dressed as German Wehrmacht soldiers leave a hotel near the "Bendlerblock" memorial inside the Defence Ministry complex during a break during the shooting of a scene of "Valkyrie" in Berlin Sept. 21, 2007. U.S. actor Tom Cruise, in the role of Nazi Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, started the production of the film. The film, directed by Bryan Singer, is based on a true story of the German officer's plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    "Shortly before we started filming, screenplay writer Christopher McQuarrie, director Bryan Singer and Tom Cruise made short remarks and then asked for a minute of silence," said German actor Christian Berkel.

    In the film, Cruise portrays Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, an aristocratic officer who mounted a failed plot to kill Adolf Hitler in 1944 as Germany was losing the war, and was executed at the Bendlerblock along with his fellow conspirators.

    Cruise has caused controversy because of his affiliation with the Church of Scientology.

    It took the filmmakers months of persuasion to convince the German government that allowing Cruise to film at the site would not amount to its desecration but would honor the memory of the resistance heroes.

    The defence ministry said it gave the go-ahead after the filmmakers agreed to incorporate a scene showing that Germany had emerged from the evil of the Nazi regime to become a fully democratic country.

    The film, directed by Bryan Singer and co-starring British actor Kenneth Branagh, is slated for a 2008 release.

    (Agencies)