It’s been 25 years since the release of Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut, but for lead actress Nicole Kidman, the project remains a poignant chapter in her life, particularly for its impact on her marriage to Tom Cruise. In a candid conversation with the Los Angeles Times, the 57-year-old actress opened up about the challenging process of making the film and the toll it took on her relationship with Cruise.
Kidman recalled the early days of working with Kubrick and Cruise, describing how the project began at Kubrick’s home rather than on set. “When Tom and I first started with Stanley, it was at his home, and we didn’t even go over to the sets at Pinewood Studios,” she said, referring to a scene where the couple’s characters share an intimate conversation while smoking in their bedroom.
“Six, eight weeks passed, and we’re wondering, ‘Are we ever going to start?’ And we just wouldn’t start. We were getting comfortable with each other, comfortable enough to throw out ideas. For that scene, we improvised the beginning of it through the rehearsals.”
When asked whether Kubrick used her real-life marriage to Cruise to shape the film’s characters, Kidman reflected, “I suppose he was mining it. There were ideas he was interested in. He’d ask a lot of questions. But he had a strong sense of the story he was telling.” She recalled Kubrick’s advice on the complexities of relationships, particularly love triangles, saying, “I do remember him saying, ‘Triangles are hard. You have to tread carefully when it’s a triangle.’ Because one person could feel ganged up on. But he was aware of that and knew how to manage us.”
Kidman also touched on the unique dynamic between Kubrick, Cruise, and herself. “There’s something about being a woman in that equation, too. And Stanley liked women. He had a different relationship with Tom. They worked more closely together on his character,” she explained. The high-profile Hollywood couple was married from 1990 to 2001, with Kubrick’s film being shot between 1996 and 1998.
In a 2017 interview with Deadline, Kidman reflected on the lengthy shoot of Eyes Wide Shut with a sense of calm. “Because I was married and I had my kids there. It wasn’t like I was rushing to get finished, to get somewhere else. I was there, with Stanley, and I didn’t care. Whatever,” she said. Tragically, just days after screening the final cut of the film, Kubrick passed away from a heart attack on March 7, 1999.
In February 2001, Cruise filed for divorce from Kidman, citing irreconcilable differences. In 2022, former Scientologist Mike Rinder claimed that the Church of Scientology played a significant role in the couple’s separation. As reported by US Weekly Kidman’s emotions were evident when she won the Academy Award for her role in The Hours; reflecting on her personal struggles at the time, she told author Dave Karger in his book 50 Oscar Nights, “I was struggling with things in my personal life, yet my professional life was going so well.”