When Tom Cruise convinced director Stanley Kubrick to cast his wife Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut

Indian Express

16-05-2025

All of Hollywood stopped and gasped in shock when Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman called it quits on their marriage in 2001, after being together for 11 years. However, during their time together, the couple worked alongside each other in movies like Far and Away (1992), Days of Thunder (1990) and Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Interestingly, it was Cruise who suggested Kubrick cast Kidman in the film, and the director agreed to cash in on the undeniable and organic chemistry between the two.
Just prior to getting the coveted BFI fellowship, Crusie talked to the magazine Sight and Sound and shared the story of how he was brought onto the Kubrick project and how, after glistening reviews from directors Sydney Pollack and Martin Scorsese, he was more than ready to work with The Shining director. 'It was a great experience. I was very excited to do it. I knew Stanley's movies very well, and I was introduced to him through Sydney Pollack. So Stanley called Sydney because he wanted me to make a movie. He sent me a fax. I flew straight to his house, and I had already read the script before meeting him, so we sat down in his backyard and discussed it the entire day.
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Tom Cruise mentioned how he didn't really need any convincing to work with Stanley Kubrick and also how, after discussing the script with him, he thought of Nicole Kidman for the role of Alice Harford in Eyes Wide Shut. 'I knew all of his films. I spoke to Scorsese about him and Pollack… so I knew what he did and how he worked. 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 shared that he assured Kubrick that he was fully committed to the project and, no matter how long it takes, he was going to see it through.
'I knew it was going to be a long shoot. He was like, 'No, no, no. We'll finish in three or four months.' And I said, 'Stanley, look, I'm here for you. Whatever it's going to take, we're going to do this…' I thought the film was very interesting, and I wanted to have that experience,' added Cruise.
In his illustrious career, Stanley Kubrick directed movies like The Shining (1980), A Clockwork Orange (1971), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Barry Lyndon (1975), among others. The director passed away in 1999 due to a heart attack.
On the other hand, Tom Cruise is gearing up for the release of Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, which he calls 'a culmination of all Mission Impossible movies and the work everyone has put into it for the last 30 years.' The film releases in India on May 17.