Cusack in a New Indie/Hollywood Film

John Cusack says that his latest movie finds the happy medium between his normal films that go back and forth between Hollywood mainstream and back to the opposite of independent films, reported the Associated Press.

Speaking at a set visit in Bankok on Saturday, he called his newest film, Shanghai, a unique project that combines the artistry of independent film with all the resources of a commercial movie, reported AP. He went on to say, "To do something that has a big budget, a great scope with a great director and great actors that has the quality and level of writing and the level of production design . . . is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

The movie is shot in London and Bangkok and is budgeted at more than $10 million, which is small by Hollywood standards, but big for a production in Asia. Cusack said that he aggressively lobbied for the part once he heard the filmmakers were planning on casting him in the film, reported AP. He told AP, "Any actor in his right mind would want to do this film - would die to do it."

Cusack plays an American intelligence official in the film who investigates a friend's death in Japanese-occupied Shanghai in 1941 just before the attack that was launched on Pearl Harbor and brought the U.S. into World War II. The film also stars Chow Yun-Fat and Ken Watanabe, reported AP.

He told AP of how it was filming in the country; "I would really come back for the people. The Thai people seem to be incredibly generous, warm, kind of loving people. So it's very nice to be around them. The crews are magnificent and everybody I've met in my brief time off has been lovely."