Washington, January 22 : Tom Cruise was initially offered the acclaimed role played by James Brolin in the 2008 biographical `Milk'.

Director Gus Van Sant revealed his first choice for the part of Dan White, a Vietnam veteran and an ex police officer and firefighter, was Cruise, hoping the actor, along side Sean Penn, would set the controversial film to a fiery start.

"I thought if I connected those two guys (Cruise and Penn) at the time I could go into the studio and say, ''Look, I have these two guys'' and they would do it", Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

"There was always the problem with the gay community aspect of the film so they needed a reason to overcome that fear that they had of making a film that wasn''t going to have a very big return money wise, so that was my plan," he added.

The movie has been speculated to draw much attention at the Academy Award ceremony next month. (ANI)