Nicole Kidman Felt Her “Association” With Tom Cruise Made Her a Star After String of ‘Not Very Good’ Early Movies

Tom Cruise married Nicole Kidman, his co-star in the movie Days of Thunder, on December 24, 1990, after first meeting while working together on set. They later went on to adopt two children—Isabella and Connor who were born in 1995 and 1992, respectively. The pair divorced when she was 33 years old in 2001. The siblings, however, kept up their Scientology practice even after their parents' divorce. It is also said that Kidman was unintentionally pregnant when Cruise filed for divorce from her. She later experienced a miscarriage. Many fans believe Kidman's unwillingness to join the Church of Scientology was the cause of their divorce, while the precise circumstances remain unknown.

The Eyes Wide Shut actress did, however, clarify the reasons behind the divorce. The Oscar winner is usually very tight-lipped while talking about her relationship with Cruise but she once admitted “I was so young when I got married. I look back now and I’m like, ‘What?’ ” she said, per PEOPLE. Kidman added at the time, “You look at Taylor Swift, I mean how old is she? She’s 26. I had two kids by the time I was 27 and I’d been married for four years. But that’s what I wanted.”

In another rare moment, Kidman once acknowledged that having the Mission Impossible actor as a husband provided some level of growth to her journey in the entertainment industry. "I felt I became a star only by association. I didn’t think [my early movies] were very good, which is why I would always cower in the background. I thought I don’t deserve to be here. We would go to the Oscars and I would think, ‘I’m here to support him,'" she told Glamour in 2008.

After her divorce, the actress's career flourished as she found roles in highly acclaimed films including The Hours, for which she received the Oscar for Best Actress. She also found love again in singer Keith Urban and the two now share two children together. “We’re stronger than ever. I say that while touching wood, and no way in a boastful way. I just say it with wonder. Absolute wonder. When you’re older, you’ve been through things, you’ve made mistakes. So you come into it [a second marriage], still giddy, but wanting it to last. We always consider the ‘us'”. We say, ‘Is this going to be good for us?’ It’s the simplest phrase, but it works.” As for Tom Cruise, the 60-year-old father-of-three, is still looking for love after being spotted with Shakira recently.

References:

https://www.glamour.com/story/nicole-kidman

https://people.com/celebrity/nicole-kidman-talks-tom-cruise-marriage-at-age-23/

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Matt Turner | Liaison