Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were married for 10 years. Photo / Getty Images
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were married for 10 years. Photo / Getty Images
Nicole Kidman has opened up about the filming of her 1999 movie Eyes Wide Shut, sharing some rare comments about her ex-husband Tom Cruise.
Australian actress Nicole Kidman rarely speaks about her first marriage to Tom Cruise, but in a recent interview, the star opened up about their relationship.
Sitting down with the Los Angeles Times, the actress, 57, who is now married to Keith Urban, reflected on her time filming the 1999 movie Eyes Wide Shut and revealed what it was like working with her now ex-husband, 62, and director Stanley Kubrick.
Noting that the trio worked closely together on the film which was released 25 years ago, she told the news outlet that Kubrick was “mining” her and Cruise’s relationship and would take extra caution with them as he didn’t want one person to feel “ganged up on”.
Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Stanley Kubrick on the set of the 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut. Photo / Warner Bros Entertainment
She said the director would often say: “Triangles are hard. You have to tread carefully when it’s a triangle,” but added: “But he was aware of that and knew how to manage us.”
The Academy Award winner also spoke about the film’s lengthy rehearsal process, telling the news outlet: “When Tom and I first started with Stanley, it was at his home, and we didn’t even go over to the sets at Pinewood [Studios],” she said. “Six, eight weeks passed, and we’re wondering, ‘Are we ever going to start?’ And we just wouldn’t start. We were getting comfortable with each other, comfortable enough to throw out ideas. For that scene, we improvised the beginning of it through the rehearsals.”
Elsewhere, the mother of four said the director “liked women” but said while the three of them were close, “He had a different relationship with Tom. They worked more closely together on his character.”
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in a scene from Eyes Wide Shut. Photo / Warner Bros Entertainment
Kubrick tragically had a heart attack and died in 1999, just days after he screened the final cut of the film for his close friends, family and cast.
Kidman and Cruise were married between 1990 and 2001 and adopted two children during their time together; Isabella, now 31, and Connor, 29. She has since married Urban and the two share daughters; Sunday, 15, and Faith, 13.
She has made very few comments about her past relationship with Cruise. However, in 2020, she spoke to the New York Times, revealing that the couple were “happily married” while filming Eyes Wide Shut.
“We would go go-kart racing after those scenes. We’d rent out a place and go racing at 3 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.”
The actress also stated her experience working with Kubrick was positive despite claims of their friendship being strained.
“This is where the fallacy is: We loved working with him,” Kidman said. “We shot that for two years. We had two kids and were living in a trailer on the lot primarily, making spaghetti because Stanley liked to eat with us sometimes. We were working with the greatest filmmaker and learning about our lives and enjoying our lives on set.”
Kidman and Cruise split in 2001 with the actress returning to Australia. Despite agreeing to a joint custody agreement, both children stayed with their father in LA and quickly became “completely dedicated Scientologists”, according to People magazine.
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman with their children in 1996. Photo / Getty Images
Kidman has remained mostly tight-lipped about her opinion about her children’s decision to join the church. However, she briefly mentioned it in a 2018 interview with Who magazine.
“They are adults,” she said of Isabella and Connor at the time. “They are able to make their own decisions.
“They have made choices to be Scientologists and, as a mother, it’s my job to love them. I know 150 per cent that I would give up my life for my children because it’s what my purpose is.”
