Tom Cruise is "very down to earth", assures his former co-star Falk Hentschel.

Falk starred alongside the actor and Cameron Diaz in the 2009 action movie Knight and Day.

The German actor - who landed his acting break in 2005 with a role in the Emmy Award winning show Arrested Development - enjoyed working with Tom and was pleased to find the star was friendly on and off set.

"He's a joy to work with. He's a great performer, very personable, very down to earth and very supportive," Falk told Cover Media at last night's London premiere of his new film Street Dance 2.

The actor's minor part alongside Hollywood heavyweights opened the door to a stint in hit series CSI and his lead role in the new 3D dance movie. He says he has Tom to thank for teaching him how to work his way up the ladder in a tough industry.

"Just watching what he does shows that it takes commitment to get far," he said.

In his latest venture Falk plays Ash, an aspiring professional street dancer who travels the world to find the best talent for a competition in Paris. Sofia Boutella portrays Eva, Ash's love interest - a Latin dancer who injects her unique flavour into the team's street routine. Sofia is full of praise for Falk, saying he was "amazing" to work with on the film.

"We have a great professional relationship and great friendship," she said.

The production team and directors Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini travelled the globe for a year attending dance competitions to find actors for the sequel.

Max admits the casting was a difficult task as they had a wealth of talent to choose from. However, he believes the quest was worth the effort as he wanted the sequel to top the first hit film.

"For the second film we knew we had to find new talent and we wanted an exceptional cast so we spent a year travelling Europe to find them and I think we did a pretty good job," he said.

Street Dance 2 is set to hit UK cinemas from March 30.