Twenty-five years ago, the divorce between Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman brought an end to one of the most closely watched relationships of the 1990s. Once known as Hollywood’s golden couple, the duo met when Kidman auditioned for Days of Thunder, a 1990 auto-racing epic that left the 22-year-old Kidman swept off her feet, telling Vanity Fair “I was consumed by it, willingly.” In December 1990, the pair married, but 11 years later, in February of 2001, the couple announced their separation. That August 8, their divorce was officially finalized.
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise in Los Angeles on August 17 1990.
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During their time together, the couple co-starred in 1992’s period western Far and Away, and Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 cult classic Eyes Wide Shut. According to rumors, their long and intense time on the set of Kubrick’s final masterpiece irreparably disrupted the balance between the two, speculation fueled by a 2024 interview Kidman gave for the film’s 25th anniversary. “We had a home 10 minutes away, but we lived in that trailer. Tom and I shared it because Stanley would say, ‘You’re not each getting a trailer. We can’t afford it,’” she said.
“He’d ask a lot of questions” about their star-studded marriage, Kidman continued. “I suppose he was mining it.”
In the fall of 2004, an accomplished, gorgeous Scientologist named Nazanin Boniadi was allegedly selected by officials in the organization to be Tom Cruise’s next girlfriend. Her never-before-told story—of the months inseparable from the star (and his watchers), before she fell out of favor—reveals a complex dynamic that also affected Cruise’s relationships with Nicole Kidman, Penélope Cruz, and, now, Katie Holmes. Maureen Orth investigates.
The couple, parents to two adopted children—Isabella, born in 1992, and Connor, born in 1995—chose to reach a private settlement when they ended their romance, even though, at the time, Tom Cruise’s net worth was estimated at around $250 million, and included five real estate properties, two private jets, and a jewelry collection worth approximately $1 million. Avoiding a court case also helped keep the the reason behind their breakup a mystery, though both have since hinted that the burden of fame and the constant pressure of being in the spotlight were more than the couple could bear. Here’s what we do know about the rise and fall of one of Hollywood’s most iconic couples:
