Tom Cruise was married to Nicole Kidman from 1999 through 2001. The Mission Impossiblestar cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split, and went on with their respective lives, neither one saying too much about their decision to end their relationship.
Flash forward two decades and Cruise has made some rare comments about Kidman. In an interview with Sight and Sound magazine, Cruise openly discussed working on the 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut — and he threw his ex-wife a compliment.
“I read the script the day before and we spent the day talking about it. I knew all of his films,” Cruise told the outlet, referring to director Stanley Kubrick. “Then it was basically he and I getting to know each other. And when we were doing that, I suggested Nicole play the role [of Alice]. Because, obviously, she’s a great actress.”
Meanwhile, Kidman has almost always been gracious when speaking about her ex. In a rare comment of her own made to The New York Times Magazine in October 2020, Kidman recalled a joyous time working on Eyes Wide Shut alongside Cruise.
“We were happily married through that,” Kidman told the outlet. “We would go go-kart racing after those scenes. We’d rent out a place and go racing at three in the morning. I don’t know what else to say. Maybe I don’t have the ability to look back and dissect it. Or I’m not willing to,” she recalled.
Both Cruise and Kidman have moved on from the past. Kidman married Keith Urban in 2006, and Cruise married Katie Holmes the same year. Cruise and Holmes split in 2012.
