In a recent interview, Tom Cruise makes a rare remark regarding his ex-girlfriend Nicole Kidman, 24 years after their divorce.
Tom Cruise recently made a rare comment about his ex-wife, Nicole Kidman, in an interview with the British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine published May 9. This marks the first time in over 20 years that he has publicly spoken about her. Reflecting on their 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut, Cruise revealed that he personally suggested Kidman for the role of Alice, praising her as a "great actress".
Their marriage lasted from 1990 to 2001, during which they adopted two children, Bella and Connor. Kidman won her first Oscar in 2003 for The Hours, two years after their divorce. Cruise had previously commented on their breakup in 2002, stating, "She knows why, and I know why," while wishing her well.
This unexpected mention has sparked renewed interest in their past relationship.
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The actor—also dad to his and ex-wife Katie Holmes' daughter Suri, 18—continued, "And I think that you just move on. And I don’t say that lightly. I don’t say that with anything. Things happen in life, and you do everything you can, and in every possible way, and there’s a point at which you just sometimes have to face the brutal reality."
In February 2001, Cruise filed for divorce from Kidman. "Citing the difficulties inherent in divergent careers, which constantly keep them apart, they concluded that an amicable separation seems best for both of them at this time," their representative told multiple outlets in a statement at the time. Kidman, who later married Keith Urban in 2006 and had two daughters, Faith Margaret, 14, and Sunday Rose, 16, with him, has occasionally talked about Cruise and their divorce, most recently last year. The 57-year-old also reflected on their time together while filming Eyes Wide Shut, asking if Kubrick, who passed away four months before the film's release, was inspired by the former couple's relationship.
"I suppose he was mining it," Kidman told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published in July 2024. “There were ideas he was interested in. He’d ask a lot of questions. But he had a strong sense of the story he was telling. I do remember him saying, ‘Triangles are hard. You have to tread carefully when it’s a triangle.'"
While filming Eyes Wide Shut, the Big Little Lies actress stated that she and Cruise shared a trailer.
"Tom and I shared it because Stanley would say, 'You’re not each getting a trailer. We can’t afford it.'" she said. "Tom had a smaller area because he was running stuff. And he’d play video games. That was when Minesweeper was big. So, there was a lot of that."
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