Tom Cruise Married Co-Star Nicole Kidman the Same Year He Divorced His 1st Wife

Tom Cruise is known for his high-profile relationships with stars like Cher, Penélope Cruz, and Katie Holmes. The actor even married Nicole Kidman. The pair tied the knot the same year he finalized his divorce from his first wife.
Tom Cruise’s first marriage to Mimi Rogers, who reportedly introduced him to Scientology
Report: Scientology Leader Sabotaged Tom Cruise’s First Marriage To Mimi Rogers http://t.co/pouq0xviFA #TomCruise pic.twitter.com/zPSZQYgOLd — Radar Online (@radar_online) April 12, 2015
Cruise dated a lot in his early days of stardom in the 80s. The actor was seen with Little House on the Prairie‘s Melissa Gilbert, his Risky Business co-star Rebecca De Mornay, Patti Scialfa (who went on to marry Bruce Springsteen), and pop star Cher.
The actor wed Mimi Rogers in 1987. The story about how the two met is a little murky — Cruise said they met at a dinner party and Rogers was dating someone else at the time, while Rogers claimed they were set up by mutual friends.
Reports suggest Rogers introduced Cruise to the Church of Scientology. She was a second-generation member of the organization. And Cruise would go on to be one of their most high-profile members.
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman married the same year he divorced Rogers
(L-R): American actor Tom Cruise with his wife Nicole Kidman, circa 1994. | Kypros/Getty Images
Cruise met Kidman in 1990 on the set of Days of Thunder. The actor said Cruise “basically swept me off my feet,” while Cruise called her his “soul mate,” (via InTouch Weekly). Around the start of production on the movie, Cruise and Rogers divorced. Cruise has not spoken about the split, but Rogers has given a few insights into why they didn’t work out.
In a 1993 interview with Playboy (via InStyle), Rogers claimed that Cruise was considering becoming a monk, which affected the couple’s intimacy. She later retracted the comments and said they were misinterpreted.
She also spoke about her struggle handling the fame that came with being Cruise’s wife, telling People, “You cease to be an individual…No matter what the article is, it’s ‘Tom Cruise’s wife.’” After leaving Scientology, Rogers alleged that the organization’s leader, David Miscavige, had a hand in their break up.
By the end of 1990, Cruise and Kidman were together. They married on Christmas Eve that year in a small ceremony in Telluride, Colorado. The couple welcomed two adopted children shortly after: Isabella in 1992, and Connor in 1995.
The couple worked together again for Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. Filming for the now-iconic movie took place from 1996 to 1998. Kidman spoke of that time in a 2020 interview, saying the family lived “in a trailer on the lot primarily, making spaghetti because Stanley liked to eat with us sometimes.”
Why did Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman break up?
In 2001, Cruise and Kidman announced they were splitting up, citing “divergent careers that constantly kept them apart.” While a statement from their reps said the split was amicable, Kidman would later say the break up was a “shock to my system,” (via People).
Kidman has spoken positively about Cruise in the years after their divorce. But she does admit she was very young when they got married. The actor also said the difference in their levels of fame and career success was hard for her.
“I felt I became a star only by association,” she explained in a 2006 interview (via Us Magazine). “We would go to the Oscars and I would think, ‘I’m here to support him.’ I felt it was my job to put on a beautiful dress and be seen and not heard.”
They finalized the divorce the same year, and Cruise went on to marry Katie Holmes in 2006. They divorced in 2012. Kidman wed country singer Keith Urban in 2006. Today, they remain happily married with two daughters.
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