Nicole Kidman has opened up about her experience working with ex-husband Tom Cruise and legendary director Stanley Kubrick on the 1999 film “Eyes Wide Shut.” In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kidman, 57, shared rare insights to mark the 25th anniversary of the controversial psychological drama.
Reflecting on whether Kubrick drew from her real-life marriage with Cruise, Kidman said, “I suppose he was mining it. There were ideas [Kubrick] was interested in. He’d ask a lot of questions. But he had a strong sense of the story he was telling.” She added that Kubrick was aware of the dynamics involved in their on-screen and off-screen relationships, noting, “Triangles are hard. You have to tread carefully when it’s a triangle.”
Kidman emphasized that she never felt isolated during filming because her relationship with Kubrick differed from Cruise’s. “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.
Recalling practical aspects of the shoot, Kidman mentioned that she and Cruise shared a trailer due to budget constraints. “We had a home 10 minutes away, but we lived in that trailer. Tom and I shared it because Stanley would say, ‘You’re not each getting a trailer. We can’t afford it,’” Kidman shared, adding that Cruise often played video games in the trailer between takes.
Kidman also discussed the extensive filming process, particularly one scene that was ultimately cut from the film. “It was the scene with Tom and I where I start by smoking the spliff in bed and where I laugh and deliver the long monologue. That took many weeks. A lot of that was rehearsing in the bedroom and then him not liking what we’d done,” she recounted. “There was no need to rush. Stanley would never go over budget. What he bought was time.”
Kidman recalled that the project began with weeks of rehearsals 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]. 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,” she said.
“Eyes Wide Shut,” Kubrick’s final film before his death in 1999, follows Dr. Bill Hartford (Cruise) as he becomes obsessed with his wife Alice’s (Kidman) sexual fantasies, leading him into a mysterious and dangerous underground world.
Kidman and Cruise were married from 1990 to 2001 and adopted two children, Isabella and Connor. After their divorce, Kidman married country singer Keith Urban in 2006, with whom she has two daughters. Cruise later married actress Katie Holmes, with whom he shares a daughter, Suri.
Kidman’s reflections provide a rare and personal glimpse into the making of “Eyes Wide Shut,” highlighting the complexities and memorable experiences from this significant period in her career and personal life.
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