Tom Cruise is sharing his advice to fellow actors: Become a filmmaker. The “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” star and producer said, while receiving the coveted British Film Institute Fellowship (via Times of London), that it is imperative for actors to understand the below the line elements of filmmaking to better their own craft.

Cruise even pointed to how fellow stars such as Marlon Brando worked with the camera. “I always tell actors: spend time in the editing room, produce a movie, study old movies, recognize what the composition is giving you, know what those lenses are, understand the lighting and how to use it for your benefit,” Cruise said. “Understand the art form to that degree. Brando absolutely understood lighting; all the greats did.”

Cruise further pointed to how film schools do not widely teach production tools and filmmaking technology to acting majors.

“It is important to understand the tools around you,...