Following the recent dissolution of her 19-year marriage to musician Keith Urban, actress Nicole Kidman is reflecting on her first high-profile union with Tom Cruise, which began when she was just 22 and introduced her to the pressures of life in the global spotlight.
The 59-year-old Oscar winner quietly filed to end her marriage to Urban in Nashville in September 2025, with the divorce finalized in January 2026. Court documents cited irreconcilable differences, with shared custody arrangements and neither party seeking spousal support. In a new cover story for British Vogue, Kidman opened up about this unexpected life change while also revisiting her relationship with Cruise, which she said shaped her ability to navigate celebrity culture.
How a Relationship Shaped Her Public Life
Kidman traced her comfort at red carpets and fashion events back to her years with Cruise, explaining that being thrust into that world at such a young age simply became her baseline. She remembers the experience of being in her early twenties married to one of cinema’s biggest stars, but said it seemed completely ordinary to her at the time given the intensity of their romance.
People close to her repeatedly cautioned that the relationship would damage her career. When asked about those warnings, she made clear she had no interest in such concerns.
The pair met in 1989 on the set of director Tony Scott’s “Days of Thunder,” Kidman’s Hollywood feature debut. They married on Christmas Eve 1990. In February 2001, Cruise initiated divorce proceedings, with court filings pointing to irreconcilable differences, and the split became final in August 2001.
Building a Career Despite the Warnings
The predictions that marrying Cruise would ruin Kidman professionally never materialized. Throughout the 1990s, as tabloids fixated on the couple, she assembled a filmography that included “To Die For,” “The Portrait of a Lady,” and “Practical Magic,” establishing herself as a serious dramatic actress.
She and Cruise appeared together in two films during their marriage. Ron Howard’s 1992 drama “Far and Away” drew mixed reviews. Their second collaboration, Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” in 1999, became the director’s final work. Kidman portrayed Alice Harford while Cruise played Bill Harford. In a recent Sight & Sound magazine interview, Cruise revealed that he had been the one to recommend Kidman to Kubrick, saying he advocated strongly for her involvement because he recognized her exceptional talent.
After the 2001 divorce, Kidman’s career accelerated rather than collapsed. “Moulin Rouge!” and “The Others” both arrived that year, followed by her Oscar-winning turn in “The Hours” in 2002, which solidified her standing among Hollywood’s most respected performers.
A Marriage That Began Too Early
In a 2013 Vanity Fair interview, Kidman put it bluntly: marriage at that age meant she was still immature and had personal development ahead of her. The new British Vogue profile revisits that theme, with Kidman observing that so much of her adult life has unfolded under public scrutiny that she can barely remember what came before.
During their 11 years together, Kidman and Cruise adopted two children — Bella, now 33, and Connor, now 31.
Kidman wed Urban in 2006. They have two daughters together: Sunday Rose, 18, and Faith Margaret, 15. Reflecting on the end of that marriage, Kidman addressed this transition in the British Vogue feature as well, speaking about navigating an unanticipated shift in her personal life while working to remain vulnerable and present even as the path ahead remains unclear.
Life Now
Kidman struck a reflective but far from somber tone in the interview. Recent months found her visiting London, Ibiza, Paris, and Portofino, and she spoke openly about how her evenings might range from playing board games at home to dancing at clubs where she occasionally wears wigs to avoid recognition. She presented herself as someone comfortable with contradictions: a global celebrity who values solitude, someone who thinks carefully but trusts her emotions above all.
The September 2026 issue of British Vogue hits newsstands Aug. 20.
