How Nicole Kidman Really Feels About the Media's Interest in Tom Cruise Marriage

Two decades after Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise announced they were going their separate ways, the actress is reflecting on the media attention they faced along the way.

By Samantha Schnurr Sep 20, 2021 4:51 PMTags
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It's been 20 years since Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise divorced, but the fascination over the former pair lingers on. 

It was in February 2001 that the couple's rep announced their "amicable separation" after 10 years of marriage. As for why, the statement blamed "the difficulties inherent in divergent careers which constantly kept them apart." Two days later, Cruise filed divorce papers, sitting irreconcilable differences. However, as is the case with any A-list couple's split, the reasons offered publicly did little to quell speculation and continued curiosity over what had transpired between the megawatt stars behind the scenes.   

"I think that divorce is hard for anyone," she told Oprah Winfrey later that year. "It's a nightmare, it just is, and you can pretend you're fine. And days you're great [and] days you're not great."

By that point, however, the two had already long been a staple subject of the media—and as evidenced by the Nine Perfect Strangers star's new Harper's Bazaar interview, their relationship and its demise remain a topic of interest even now. Whenever either star makes mention of the other—a rare occurrence—ears tend to perk up and headlines ensue. 

But was she annoyed by the way the media focused on their relationship years ago? "I was young. I think I offered it up?" she told the magazine. "Maybe I've gotten a bit more trepidatious, but I'm always trying to be as open as possible. I just prefer to live in the world that way."

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"I'm wary at times, and I've been hurt, but at the same time I much prefer a warm approach rather than a prickly shutdown approach," she continued. "My husband, Keith [Urban], says that when he met me, he said, 'How's your heart?' And I apparently responded, 'Open.'"

Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

The country star has since had a part of her heart for 15 years of marriage. The couple, whose relationship has amassed its own fan club over the years, tied the knot in 2006 and subsequently welcomed daughters Sunday, 13, and Faith, 10. As she shared with Harper's Bazaar, Kidman didn't think Urban would be interested in her, let alone anticipate 15 years together. "And he actually wasn't that interested in me at the time," she said, "which he now says is not true; he was just sort of intimidated." 

As for how they're doing nowadays, the Oscar winner was notably candid. "We're always working through stuff, but it's very much love based, so there's an enormous amount of give and take," she explained. "I want him to have the best life he can have, and he responds the same way...We really love parenting together."