(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Jessica Chastain was directed to "pump her arms" like Tom Cruise while filming the action scene in her newest project.

Jessica plays the young Rachel Singer in thriller The Debt. While filming a live-action scene with co-star Sam Worthington, she needed a bit of coaching to keep up pace. Sam graciously offered her advice on the matter.

"[Sam]'s like, No man, you've got to pump those arms like Tommy Cruise! Like Tom Cruise!'" Jessica said to OK! magazine at the The Debt's star studded premiere this week. "So now I realise when you run, you do the action run where you pump your arms."

Jessica was just too limber to run like a dynamo. Her arm movements before Sam's suggestion reminded cast mates of a cartoon character.

"I was a ballerina, I was not a jock," Jessica explained. "Apparently when I first was doing a running scene I ran like Gumby, where you don't really move your arms."

She has learned much from the training she received on set. In fact, Jessica may be able to take on Tom Cruise himself in a race.

"Sam's in fact named me Tommy Cruise," Jessica said. "I think Tom Cruise and I have to be in a movie where we have a run-off, because I think my run might be better now."

The Debt will be in cinemas August 31. (C) Cover Media