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Tom Cruise has praised his ex-wife and former co-star Nicole Kidman when talking about their collaboration on Stanley Kubrick’s acclaimed 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut.
Although Cruise and Kidman, who were married between 1990 and 2001, appeared together in both Days of Thunder and Far and Away, the Kubrick film is seen as a landmark achievement for both stars due to the strength of their performances, the complexity of the story and the fact that it is the heralded director’s final film before his death.
Cruise plays Dr Bill Harford who goes on an odyssey into the Manhattan underworld after his wife, Alice (Kidman), expresses dissatisfaction and unfulfillment in their marriage
Speaking to Sight and Sound magazine ahead of being awarded a prestigious BFI Fellowship on Sunday, Cruise was asked about the unique collaboration with Kubrick.
The 62-year-old recalled that he was introduced to The Shining director by Sydney Pollack, who Cruise had worked with in the 1993 film The Firm. Cruise also says that he spoke to Martin Scorsese, who he worked with on The Color of Money, about Kubrick.
“I flew out to his house and I landed in his backyard. I read the script the day before and we spent the day talking about it. I knew all of his films,” said Cruise. “Then it was basically he and I getting to know each other. And when we were doing that, I suggested Nicole play the role [of Alice]. Because obviously she’s a great actress.”
Cruise added that he told Kubrick: “Whatever it’s going to take we’re going to do this…” This was after the director told him that the entire film would only take “three or four months” to make. In the end, the film took 15 months to make due to numerous reshoots and Kubrick's obsession with perfectionism.
Reflecting on the movie Cruise said: “I thought the film was very interesting, and I wanted to have that experience. When I go to make a movie, I do a lot of detailed investigation and a lot of time with the people before I commit so that I understand what they need and want and they understand me and how we can work together and really create something very special.”
Speaking to the New York Times in 2020, Kidman was asked if the role opened up “negative feelings” about their marriage at the time.
The actor responded: “That fits the narrative that people came up with, but I definitely didn’t see it like that. We were happily married.”
"We would go go-kart racing after those scenes,’’ revealed Kidman. “We’d rent out a place and go racing at three in the morning.”
Cruise will join a prestigious list of names when he receives his BFI Fellowship, a list which includes Akira Kurosawa, Robert Altman, Cate Blanchett, Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese, Michael Caine, Spike Lee, Christopher Nolan, Ken Loach, Isabelle Huppert and Al Pacino.
English (US) ·