Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise divorce: Actress explains origins of famous photo

This photo of Nicole Kidman from the 2000s resurfaced online and went viral for allegedly capturing the moment she finalised her divorce from Tom Cruise. Photo / X

Australian actress Nicole Kidman has revealed the context behind a famous 2001 paparazzi photo allegedly taken after the star’s divorce from fellow actor and ex-husband Tom Cruise was finalised, putting to bed years of rumours about the image.

Talking to British GQ for their “Men of the Year” cover story, when asked about the photo, she told the outlet the alleged story accompanying it was “not true”.

In the photo Kidman can be seen walking down the pavement with her eyes closed and her arms stretched out, seemingly taking a deep breath and appearing ecstatic.

According to internet lore, the shot was taken as she walked out of her divorce lawyer’s office. Allegedly taken during the Kidman-Cruise marriage dissolution in 2001, the image has since become a viral meme.

But Kidman, 57, has finally revealed the truth.

Rather than it being taken when she was leaving her lawyer’s office, the Big Little Lies actress explained the photo had instead been taken out of context.

“That was not me; that was from a film, that wasn’t real life,” she explained, but stopped short of revealing which movie set the now-iconic photo was taken on.

Nicole Kidman on the cover of British GQ's "Men of the Year" issue. Photo / @britishgq

The star also weighed in on another viral image.

“I’ve also seen the one where I’m clapping like that,” she told GQ, referring to a photo from the 2017 Academy Awards where she’s applauding awkwardly due to the Harry Winston jewellery – 119 carats worth – she wore to the Oscars that year.

“I had a massive heavy borrowed ring on and it was really painful, and I was scared of wrecking the jewellery. Ha! There’s always something behind the actual images that go out there, right?”

Kidman and Cruise met on the set of Days of Thunder, marrying shortly afterward in 1990. Together they adopted two children, Isabella, 31, and Connor, 29.

The couple co-starred in Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut, in 1999. Kidman recently opened up about shooting the movie, telling the Los Angeles Times she felt Kubrick was “mining” their relationship.

Former couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in a scene from the film Eyes Wide Shut. Photo / Getty Images

Cruise and Kidman eventually divorced in 2001, citing “irreconcilable differences”.

Kidman went on to date rapper Q-Tip and musician Lenny Kravitz in 2003. She then met Keith Urban in January 2005, and the pair married the following year. The couple have since had two daughters, Sunday and Faith.

Cruise began dating Dawson’s Creek actress Katie Holmes in April 2005. They became engaged two months later and had their daughter, Suri, the following April. All three appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair in 2006.

Holmes filed for divorce from the Mission: Impossible star in 2012. She and Suri have since become estranged from Cruise, with the actor later stating his ties to Scientology had played a big part in the breakdown of his relationship to Holmes and his daughter.