Cruise is, of course, on a perpetual mission. He has a purpose for everything he does, and his purpose in speaking with me is to promote Collateral, which, set in L.A., is the perfect backdrop for our dissection of the city. He plays a hit man, Vincent, who shanghais a cabbie to drive him around L.A. to carry out a series of assassinations.

"Okay, where would we find Vincent from Collateral?" I ask.

"The places that he has to go to in the picture," Cruise answers. "Downtown L.A. Wherever his job has to be."

"Where did you go as Vincent in the movie?"

"Bliss is a nightclub downtown that [director] Michael Mann found," he says. "It's dark and modern, glass. We shot a little bit in the club itself, and then Michael designed a set based on the club. Kind of made it a little bigger for the movie. Michael found other locations in L.A. that I'd never been to, and I was really happy to have the opportunity to see them. Like the Grand Star Jazz Club. Michael loves jazz."

Filming Collateral was new territory for Cruise. Not the role - he's played bad guys before, receiving an Oscar nod for his role as an insidious motivational speaker in Magnolia. Rather, it was new territory in terms of introducing him to a side of Los Angeles he'd never seen before.

"There's a club called El Rodeo in the movie that's a great club where they do that kind of Urban Cowboy dancing. It's a very visual place. The music is great. Also, China­town at night. I've never been out in L.A. until 6 in the morning. These places that Michael Mann finds, and the way he shoots them, it's very much L.A. But it's fresh. It's new. In a town that has been shot over and over on TV and in movies, you see what he does and the places that he knows, and it's surprising. I'd say, 'How do you even know about this place?' What is wonderful about Los Angeles is that there are many different ethnic groups that all live and work to­gether. When you see Collateral, you really see how diverse the cultures are here."
     
I ask Cruise about some of his favorite places around town, restaurants for instance, and he begins reciting his laundry list.

"I like all types of food. I go to Matsu­hisa. Giorgio's. Toscana. In-N-Out Bur­ger. Dairy Queen."

"Dairy Queen? Really?"

"Yeah, I like Dairy Queen," he insists. "I'm a Southern boy at heart, really. And, of course, now Krispy Kreme has come here, which I'm very happy about. Good for my Southern roots."

"So you'd rather go to Krispy Kreme than Matsuhisa?"

He laughs. "I like Matsuhisa, but you've got to love Krispy Kreme, too. Everything has its place."