Hindsight always gives us clarified perspective. In 1998, before Kidman had any hint of what lay ahead, she had a different vision in mind for her life with Cruise. "I can't say what our journey is going to be. But it will be a hell of a journey. And I see myself as an old woman and he's [Cruise] an old man and we're married. I do see that."
Prognosticator Kidman was not. One thing she is grateful for from her union with Cruise are their two adopted children, Isabella, 13 and Connor, 11. "I feel enormous love for whoever my children's birth parents are, and if my children choose to go find them at some stage, I can't wait. Because — it's the weirdest thing — I actually feel (they're) very connected to us as a big, strange family, and whether they choose to search for them or not, who knows."
During the divorce (tame and respectful compared to other Hollywood breakups) rumors circulated that Nicole miscarried shortly after their split, which emphasized, "the difficulties inherent in divergent careers, which constantly keep them apart," as the root cause. Nicole was reportedly three months pregnant when Tom filed for divorce in early Feb. 2001.
Very classy Tom, nothing like knocking your wife up and then dumping her to pursue your career.
Perhaps there is something to the old adage "opposites attract": even the way they have handled the aftermath of their demised relationship is markedly different.
Nicole went into solitary mode and didn't enter a serious relationship until recently, to the hunky (and I mean HUNKY) Keith Urban; whereas, Tom glommed onto Penelope Cruz almost immediately, and then moved on to the infamous TomKat union - carrying on like a little girl about, and ultimately impregnating the 16-years his junior, Katie Holmes.
Nicole seems to have been genuinely hurt by her failed marriage, taking her time to find the right person and nurture her children. When pressed for answers about her relationship with Urban she is cautious: "That's not something I want to talk about. If I get married, when I get married, then I will talk about it. Yes, absolutely. Until then, you know, when you're a mother, I think there's a certain amount of quietness that's important."
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Dawn
I just noticed that when juxtaposed together like that, Keith and I have the same hair cut.
Same stylist?
2 - Mark Saleski
it might just be me & my browser, but i swear that i can see the "lust vibes" moving from dawn's pic over to urban's.
3 - Eric Olsen
for completely different reasons, had to ax that last Keith pic - no room.
Nice job, Dawn!
4 - DJRadiohead
Tom Cruise: bad for film, psychiatry, normalcy, pregnancy. Great for BCRadio.
5 - Dawn
DJR, I am always thinking of you when I write these stories. Ever present in my mind you are - but of course, I have a lot of room up there :)
6 - Eric Olsen
unless you're thinking about Keith Urban
7 - Dawn
Yeah, Keith does own a small corner in my brain!
Mark's right, my picture was attempting to molest poor Keith's, good thing Eric removed it or we might have multiplied into little bloglettes.
8 - Eric Olsen
but that wasn't WHY I removed it, of course
9 - Peter Forrester
It's funny that personal attacks are not allowed when posting a response. But you happily attacked someone you've never even met (Tom Cruise) by calling him a freak. Will you even post this?
10 - Dawn
Are you a Charlie Sheen fan too Peter?
11 - DJRadiohead
Peter, I can understand how a person might read this and conclude Dawn is attacking Cruise on a personal level. That said, I think you can also see this as a humorous, entertaining bit of analysis of things Nicole Kidman said and things Tom Cruise did. She is not alone in thinking that Cruise is behaving in a bizarre way. Calling him a "freak" in that context doesn't seem so awful to me.
12 - Eric Olsen
Peter is a Scientologist
13 - Eric Olsen
also, to be precise, she called him a "sort of freak," which is softened considerably
14 - NR Davis
Does the comment policy govern articles? That doesn't make sense.
15 - Eric Olsen
and then there's that
16 - Eric Berlin
"Kind of a freak" is so inside the bounds as a reference to a very public figure that it's... freaky.
Great piece, Dawn !
17 - Dorothy Lenz
Dear Dawn,
I personally like Tom Cruise and I like Nicole Kidman. I don't feel I need to criticize either. I think both of them are great. There are better things to put your attention on that really do handling in life. . . . poverty, war, sickness, revenge, hatred, etc. Why don't we get off the "Cruise is bad" "Nicole is crazy for loving him" kick, and do something constructive for the world?
Dorothy Lenz
[Personal contact info deleted]
18 - Dawn
Honestly, I said lots of nice things about Tom too, I was fair and balanced and ultimately generous.
I also just happen to think pretty highly of Nicole Kidman. I didn't even mention the positive and kind work she is doing for UNIFEM, an organization that fights for women's rights around the world.
She, unlike Tom, is a class act A-lister!
PS - Thanks Eric and Eric!!
19 - Dawn
Dorothy, duly noted. But I am the resident celeb gossip person around here, I am just doing my job, while simultaneously enjoying it.
PS. Future reference, don't include personal info about yourself on the web. I will see about having that edited for you.
20 - Eric Berlin
Dorothy, if Dawn chooses to spend her time fulfilling herself via writing and entertaining an audience in an online medium, is that such a bad thing?
21 - NR Davis
Trust me; you don't want her running loose on the streets. ;)
22 - Paula
This has got to be one of THE BEST articles I have read in forever!! I found great humor in it. I have always liked Nicole AND Tom and the way I read it....there was no bashing. It was all TRUE! I bet Tom laughs at himself daily. As for Keith....one of the most beautiful creatures on Earth. Inside and out. Keith and Nicole are very lucky indeed!
23 - NR Davis
I have my doubts that Tom Cruise is capable of laughing at himself. He knows the truth. He knows the facts. You don't.
(lol)
Gosh, I hate to stir the gossip pot, but is anyone hearing that an "amicable separation" may be on the agenda? I've read (via Ted Casablanca) that people thisclose to TC say the lovey-dovey bit is all for show. Team Cruise, of course, denies, denies, denies the naysaying and insists a wedding will come soon (rumored date: July 1, which is my anniversary too, dammit; I feel like Brooke Shields). Which story will turn out to be the real one? Will Tom jump on more upholstered furniture? Will the glazed look ever leave Katie's eyes? And what about Baby Suri? Find out more... as the stomach turns.
24 - Victor Plenty
Nicole didn't say she's still in love with Tom, only that she still loves him. From the context it isn't clear what sort of love she means.
Moving slowly on a new relationship might not mean she's carrying a torch. It might merely mean she's trying to make sure her next marriage lasts longer than her last one.
If it weren't for Nicole's signature on the non-disclosure agreement that's surely on file with Cruise's lawyers, maybe she would talk about her sincere hope that one day he will find, settle down with, and perhaps even marry, the man of his dreams.
25 - Eric Berlin
I think if Tom separates after the kid is born he'll be one step closer to Michael Jackson-land.