Skip to main content

As it turns out, Nicole Kidman is quite the romantic. And although her relationship with Tom Cruise led to a messy divorce, she has recently opened up about how they were “happily married” at one point. Kidman even says that after first meeting Cruise, she knew she wanted to have his babies. Find out more fascinating details about their relationship below.

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman at Universal Studios Theme Park in Los Angeles 1992 | Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images

Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise star in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Eyes Wide Shut’

In 1999, Kidman and Cruise starred alongside each other in Kubrick’s erotic thriller, Eyes Wide Shut. And although the director is notorious for creating a challenging work environment on his film sets, the famous couple seemed to have a blast during filming.

Kidman has just recently opened up about how happy she was during this time, especially considering she got to work alongside her husband. She reminisces about their adventures as a married couple, which involved two strange combinations: spaghetti and go-karts. 

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman | Dan Callister/GettyImages

You heard us. According to Kidman, she and Cruise lived in a trailer while filming the 1999 erotic thriller, and they’d frequently cook spaghetti to share with Kubrick. She tells The New York Times Magazine, “We had two kids and were living in a trailer on the lot primarily, making spaghetti because Stanley liked to eat with us sometimes.”

Getting to eat Italian food with The Shining director is exciting enough, but there’s more. Kidman says she and Cruise used to go go-karting at 3 am once filming was done. “We were happily married through that,” Kidman tells The New York Times Magazine. We would go go-kart racing after those scenes. We’d rent out a place and go racing at 3 in the morning.”

Nicole Kidman says Tom Cruise ‘swept me off my feet’

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman attend the ‘Batman Forever’ Premiere | Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Related

Nicole Kidman Admits She’d Give up ‘Everything’ for Tom Cruise

Kidman describes her first meeting with the Jerry Maguire star like something straight out of a fairytale. Kidman knew the moment she met Cruise that she wanted to have his babies. The Moulin Rouge actor admits she fell madly, passionately in love with Cruise. She adds that all her plans were willingly erased once they locked eyes. 

Smitten, the Australian starlet tells Vanity Fair in 2002, “He basically swept me off my feet. I fell madly, passionately in love. And as happens when you fall in love, my whole plan in terms of what I wanted for my life—I was like, ‘Forget it. This is it.’ I was consumed by it, willingly.”

Kidman adds that she desperately wanted to have a child with him, regardless of whether or not they were married. “I was desperate to have a baby with him,” she admits. “I didn’t care if we were married. That’s what I wish I’d done.”

Nicole Kidman says her marriage to Tom Cruise kept her safe from Hollywood harassment

Kidman says that although she most certainly married for love, being married to such a powerful man in Hollywood was able to shield her from sexual harassment. Once Kidman got divorced, she admits that she “had to grow up.” She reveals in an essay for The New York Magazine, “I got married very young, but it definitely wasn’t power for me — it was protection. I married for love, but being married to an extremely powerful man kept me from being sexually harassed,” Kidman wrote. “I would work, but I was still very much cocooned. So when I came out of it at 32, 33, it’s almost like I had to grow up.”