An American in “The Last Samurai”
Tom Cruise played Nathan Algren, an American Civil War veteran hired by Japan to become a military advisor in 2003’s “The Last Samurai.” But most of Japan’s military advisors were French at that time period. The country never hired an American. Also in the film, Algren taught the Japanese soldiers how to use muskets, but in real life, the Japanese were well trained in the use of rifles.