Cruise's new movie American Made is based on the frankly insane true story of Barry Seal, who in the 1980s became entangled between the CIA, DEA, White House, the Contra rebels in Central America and the Medellin cocaine cartel.

Tom Cruise plays Barry Seal in American Made

Famously passionate about his roles, Cruise says that characters like Barry really fire him up. "I'm just interested in life," he says. "So when you see someone in a different life, you can't help but become more interested in it. And I have the privilege to put it up there and share it with everyone."

The film reteams Cruise with Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman, and both were looking for something different. "It's an absolutely fascinating story, and so outrageous," the actor says. "One of my favourite writers growing up was Mark Twain, and he would have written this story! It's ripe for satire and humour. Barry is an antihero, and by all accounts everyone who knew him loved him. And there's also this unique love story with his wife. He adored her and she adored him."

Clearly taken by this deeply offbeat role, Cruise felt that it was almost "impossible how this guy just kind of waltzes through history. Barry's kind of a cowboy, he's amoral, he's an opportunist and yet you're drawn into this guy, you like him. He was not political at all, but he was a great pilot who would fly anything from drugs to guns. Like the early version of FedEx, he was 'the gringo who always delivered'. And he was making so much money that he didn't know what to do with all the cash. At one time he's one of the wealthiest men in America."

A pilot himself, Cruise identified especially with that side of Barry's life. And it offered the actor more opportunities to do his own stunts. "Flying is something that has been a lifelong passion," he says. "When you see me put that airplane on autopilot and I walk from the front of the airplane to the back, I am literally doing that. When you see me breaking through those trees, that's me flying the plane."

Of course, doing his own stunts carries risks as well, and Cruise recently broke his ankle and injured his hip while doing a leap between buildings on the set of the sixth Mission: Impossible movie. As a result, the production has had to shut down for up to six weeks while he heals.

Watch the trailer for American Made: