“My first reaction to meeting Nic was pure lust,” Cruise later said. “It was totally physical.” Both Cruise and Kidman have made many other memorable statements over the years about their marriage and each other. Now that the parents of two are separating because their movie careers “constantly keep them apart”-as the official statement released Monday read-it’s worth looking back on a few notable quotes.
PLAYBOY, JULY, 1992:
Interviewer: What’s the best advice about marriage you have heard and who told it to you?
Kidman: Tom gave it to me. He said, ‘This marriage is going to last because we’re going to do whatever it takes. There’s absolutely no limit to make it work.’
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, JUNE, 1995:
Kidman: It’s utterly ridiculous, a total rumor. I suppose because I’m married to somebody very famous, our love life is under great speculation by many, many people at their dinner tables every night. But it gets invasive. Both of us are private people. We don’t feel comfortable discussing what we do in bed at midnight-even though it is pretty damn good… Look, Tom and I are heterosexual, we’re together, we’re in love. It’s weird even to have to answer that question.
NEWSWEEK, DECEMBER, 1998:
Cruise: We didn’t realize how hard it would be for her to become known as Tom Cruise’s wife. She’s tremendously strong to have stuck with her craft and accomplish what she’s accomplished. In eight years of marriage we’ve never been separated for more than 12 days.
Kidman: It’s a complicated relationship but I’m glad it’s complicated because otherwise I’d be bored. It’s been nine years and I’m past the seven-year itch. When you’re loved for your flaws, that’s when you really feel safe. I have a lot of flaws and I’m difficult to live with and he still loves me. He is my favorite person in the world.
ON “GOOD MORNING AMERICA,” JULY, 1999:
Kidman: I love being married. I’m actually-you know, my personality and who I am really suits being married, and I’m lucky that I have a husband who’s the same way. And, you know, I’m meant to be with him, I’m just meant to be with him, and I really love being with him, and I adore him.
ROLLING STONE, AUGUST, 1999:
Kidman: I love acting, but it’s more fun to take the kids to the beach or the zoo. I could not work tomorrow and be fine because I have the children.
Interviewer: Does Tom have the same feeling?
Kidman: Yes. Just as much. Believe me, between flying planes, taking care of his kids and our family together, yeah, he could easily stop. He’d miss acting, but he’s been doing it a long time. “We don’t feel comfortable discussing what we do in bed at midnight,” Kidman told EW in 1995, “even though it is pretty damn good.”
Interviewer: What keeps you and Tom together?
Kidman: We enjoy each other’s company. Boy, we have times, believe you me. But we’re staying together. I adore him.
Interviewer: More than when you married him?
Kidman: Oh, yes. I know him now. I didn’t when I married him. But happiness is not a constant. It comes and goes. It’s something you work at. We are normal people in a relationship, trying to make it work.
Interviewer: Do you think you and Tom can last for 38 years, like your parents?
Kidman: I’d be so devastated if we didn’t.
title: “In Their Own Words” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-13” author: “Deneen Reynolds”
Roberts: “He’s very good-looking, and his handsomeness pales in comparison to his kindness.” (InStyle, December 1998)
Bratt: “For me one of the biggest turn-ons is the way my girlfriend smells.” (InStyle, May 1999)
Roberts: “He walked in, and I looked up at him, and it was like something hit me over the head with a bat.” (US, August 1999)
Bratt: Roberts is “simple in the most beautiful ways: generous, soulful, giving, humorous, loving–all those things that are important to me.” (Women’s Wear Daily, Jan. 31, 2000)
Bratt: “[We] balance it by keeping it real … by keeping those things that are important to you close to you, those simple things that everyone wants: peace, love, security, privacy.” (People, March 20, 2000)
Bratt: “We both know we’re in it as deep as it gets. And knowing that is enough.” (People, March 20, 2000)
Roberts: “Think about the chances that you actually meet somebody who is … appealing enough to want to eat food with. Then think of the small miracle of having interesting repartee while eating that food. And then imagine you have a similar sense of humor, and a similar enough concept of the world but different enough to keep things lively and interesting. Then add to that that you like the way they dress and the way they kiss, and then that you finally get down and to it and oh, my God, you make love to this person–and it’s fabulous! What are the chances? They are minuscule!” (Redbook, April 2000)
Roberts: “He’s good to the bone…. I realized immediately that he’s someone who will always challenge me in that great way that keeps you moving forward in your life…. This is all a girl could ever ask for.” (McCall’s, August 2000)
Roberts: “He … just loves me unconditionally. He accepts me as a flawed individual and loves me anyway…. We’re just ecstatically happy…. We’re drunk with joy 24 hours out of the day … we’re sickening.” (“Oprah,” Jan. 31, 2001)
Roberts: “He’s the best reason to go home I can think of.” (The New York Daily News, March 6, 2001)
Roberts: “We had breakfast with our family and a bunch of friends [on Oscar morning]…. We were silly; we did acrobatics and ate tons of bacon.” (Salon.com, March 26, 2001)
