Nicole Kidman has given fans a rare insight into her marriage with Tom Cruise, as she reflected on the making of the 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut.
Tom Cruise’s personal life isn’t discussed much by that of his former partners. However, Nicole Kidman – who was Cruise’s second wife after marrying in 1990 – has given some insight into their time together in a new interview.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times for the 25th anniversary of Eyes Wide Shut, Kidman discussed the creative process and how the trio of herself, Cruise and late director Stanley Kubrick worked on the now-iconic film.
For some context, the film follows the sexually charged adventures of a doctor, played by Cruise, who discovered that his wife a year earlier, played by Kidman, considered having an affair. Saucy stuff.
The film is beloved for many and at the time, was received well by critics and audiences alike.
Speaking in the new interview, Kidman said she, Cruise and Kubrick spent considerable time together – which is putting it mildly as it took both stars off the market for almost two years.
The film was supposed to only be a six-month shoot, but it stretched out indefinitely and Kidman joked she began to wonder if filming would begin.
It didn’t bother her much though, as she said: “I would have stayed a third year. Does that mean I’m crazy?”
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman back in 1999. (TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP via Getty Images)
So as long as she is happy, I suppose.
Speaking about the process, she said: “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],”
“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.”
Kidman also said she and ex-husband Cruise stayed in a studio on the set throughout some of the process.
She continued: “We had a home 10 minutes away, but we lived in that trailer,” she explained. “Tom and I shared it because Stanley would say, ‘You’re not each getting a trailer. We can’t afford it’.”
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise divorced in 2001 after 11 years of marriage. (MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The actress was also asked whether she felt Kubrick was hoping to take some inspiration from the pair’s relationship for the film.
She answered: “I suppose he was mining it. There were ideas he was interested in. He’d ask a lot of questions. But he had a strong sense of the story he was telling.
“I do remember him saying, ‘Triangles are hard. You have to tread carefully when it’s a triangle.’ Because one person could feel ganged up on. But he was aware of that and knew how to manage us.”
Kidman and Cruise eventually divorced a few years later in 2001 after being married for 11 years. They share two children, named Isabella and Connor.