Nicole Kidman has recalled being warned that marrying Tom Cruise could have a major impact on her acting career.
The Australian actress opened up about her 11-year marriage to the Hollywood star in a new British Vogue cover story, reflecting on how becoming Cruise’s wife at just 22 changed her life.
Kidman said she had already been warned that marrying one of the world’s biggest movie stars could affect how she was viewed professionally.
“I got married so young,” she said. “Suddenly I was 22, 23 years old and I had this huge movie star husband. But it just seemed completely natural. We just fell madly in love and it was that simple.”
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in 1998. Photo credit: Featureflash Photo Agency, Shutterstock
She recalled people telling her that the marriage would affect her career.
“I remember people saying to me, ‘OK, well this is really going to affect your career.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t care. I’m in love. I want to be married.’”
Kidman said she was then defined publicly as Cruise’s wife, adding: “And then I was his ‘wife’ and they were like, ‘See, we told you.’”
Her response at the time was that she was prepared to put her career aside for the man she loved.
“So what? I wasn’t meant to marry the man I love? Of course I’ll throw my career away. I don’t care,” she said.
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman attend 1999 movie premiere. Photo credit: Featureflash Photo Agency, Shutterstock
Kidman and Cruise first met in 1989 while working on Days of Thunder, which marked Kidman’s Hollywood film debut. They married the following year and remained together for 11 years.
The relationship placed Kidman under intense media scrutiny from a young age, something she now believes helped her become comfortable with living in the public eye.
“Strangely enough, I feel comfortable. Is that weird? That’s so weird,” she said.
“But you have to remember literally, because of who I married at such a young age, I was thrust into it since I was 22… My life’s been more time like that than not.”
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman attend 2000 movie premiere. Photo credit: Everett Collection, Shutterstock
Despite concerns about the effect the marriage could have on her career, Kidman went on to establish herself as one of Hollywood’s leading actresses during and after their relationship.
She starred in films including To Die For, The Portrait of a Lady and Practical Magic, while she and Cruise appeared together in Far and Away in 1992 and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut in 1999.
The couple announced their separation in February 2001, with Cruise filing for divorce later that month, citing irreconcilable differences.
Kidman’s career continued to grow rapidly following their split, with Moulin Rouge! and The Others both released in 2001. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress the following year for her performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours.
Kidman previously reflected on the marriage in a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, saying that her young age had been an important factor in the breakdown of their relationship.
“I was a child, really, when I got married. And I needed to grow up,” she said.
Tom Cruise attends 2025 movie premiere. Photo credit: Fred Duval, Shutterstock
Cruise has also spoken about Kidman in recent years, including in an interview with Sight & Sound magazine.
He revealed that he was the one who suggested Kidman for the role of Alice Harford in Eyes Wide Shut, opposite him as Bill Harford.
Cruise said he suggested his wife for the role to director Stanley Kubrick because “she’s a great actress”.
Eyes Wide Shut became the final film directed by Kubrick and remains the only film Cruise and Kidman made together after their marriage began.
