Tom Cruise has praised Nicole Kidman in a recent interview, one of the few times the actor has spoken about his ex-wife since their divorce.
While discussing the film Eyes Wide Shut - a work Tom Cruise starred in with Nicole Kidman in 1999, the actor shared with Deadline: "It was a great experience. I was very excited to be involved. I asked Nicole to play Alice because obviously she's a great actress. I thought it was a great movie and I really wanted to have that experience."
Eyes Wide Shut is based on the novel Traumnovelle (Dream) by Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler, following Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise), a successful doctor living with his wife Alice (Nicole Kidman). After Alice reveals that she had an affair, Bill embarks on a psychological journey that lasts all night long, where he faces temptations, illusions, and a mysterious underground society with strange, erotic, and dangerous rituals. The erotic and mystical work by director Stanley Kubrick caused a lot of controversy when it was released, but then it gradually received positive reviews.
This is the first time Tom Cruise has talked about his ex-wife in many years. According to E! News, the last time Tom Cruise mentioned Nicole Kidman was in 2002 - a year after their divorce. In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine that year, when asked about the reason behind the marriage breakup, Tom Cruise said: "She knows why and I know why. She is the mother of my children, and I wish her well."
Tom Cruise filed for divorce from Nicole Kidman in February 2001 after a decade of marriage and two adopted children. The actor cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the split and sought custody of both children. In later interviews, Nicole revealed that she was very sad and shocked by the divorce.
Last year, Nicole revealed in an interview with journalist Dave Karger that when she received her 2003 Oscar, she was still healing from the damage caused by her broken marriage. "I was dealing with a lot of problems in my personal life, but my career was going very well," the actress confided.
Nicole later married singer Keith Urban in 2006 and had two daughters, Sunday and Faith. Tom Cruise married actress Katie Holmes in 2006 and had a daughter, Suri. However, the actor and Katie divorced in 2012. Recently, Tom Cruise was rumored to be dating actress Ana de Armas.