(No, Cameron Diaz isn't one of them)
Due to the recent Cruise attention because of the excellent Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation, I thought I'd try my hand at an ONTD original. Doing some googling, Tom Cruise has had quite the interesting love life over thirty years. Here we will chronicle the notable and lesser known loves of Cruise's life.
For those of us old enough to remember Cruise B.K. (Before Katie), he was quite the private individual with his relationships, very rarely talking about his partners or love life, preferring to talk his films. But we do know who he dated before and perhaps after Katie, so let's go!
Remember, ALL OF THIS IS ALLEGED. DO NOT SUE, IT'S ALL FROM ARTICLES, SOURCES AND BOOKS.
Melissa Gilbert(51)
Period: 1982
Backstory: Child actress Gilbert dated Cruise when he was still "Tom Mapother" and a struggling, poor, just-moved-to-LA actor and she was on Little House on the Prairie. She was 17, he was 19. From her own words, it was nothing serious, they didn't even sleep together, and she eventually moved on to his The Outsiders co-star Rob Lowe.
Quote: "I went out with Tom Cruise a couple of times. He's a great guy, great sense of humor...Very generous, very sweet. There was nothing much to it. OK, [we] made out on mom's couch...It didn't suck."
Trivia: Gilbert bought Cruise his first set of dishes because he was too poor to afford any.
Heather Locklear(53)
Period: 1982
Backstory: Heather said they met on an audition and she took him out since, being new in the area, he didn't have any friends. She claims their one and only date ended when he showed off the Risky Business dance moves (however, this was about a year before he would do the dance on screen). And yet, she hung out with him a couple of more times. So what's the truth, Heather?
Quote:"It wasn't really a date, we had auditioned for something together and he didn't have any friends...I mean, not that he doesn't have friends. Out here he doesn't have friends. We went out and we went dancing."
Trivia: What's the truth, Heather?
Rebecca De Mornay(55)
Period: 1983-1985
Backstory: They were co-stars in the iconic 80s dark comedy Risky Business, and Cruise claimed they bombed the chemistry test even though he thought she was "gorgeous." He was cast for the film anyway and they allegedly began hooking up almost immediately, with De Mornay leaving her boyfriend Harry Dean Stanton for Cruise. The director claimed he had to turn away during filming of the sex scenes because the two went at it, and the infamous train scene was done on a closed set. The two lived together in New York until she dumped him, which he reportedly wasn't very happy about.
Quote:"For Tom and me, they were very affecting scenes, because neither one of us had ever shown ourselves that vulnerable on the screen. That's what is hot to me. Porno films are not hot. What's hot is when there is a real connection."
Trivia: The famous train sex scene in Risky Business has been long rumored to have been unsimulated.
Cher (69)
Period: 1985
Backstory: Yep, Cruise was one of Cher's boy toys in the 80s. He was 23 and she was 39. She said he was very private and she doesn't quite recognize who he is today.
Quote:"He wasn't a Scientologist back then! It was pretty hot and heavy for a little minute.""It was a long, long time ago and neither one of us ever talked about it and I don’t know why. When we were together he was such a private person. He always has been until lately. He didn’t mention it and I didn’t mention it. I loved him though, he was amazing.”
Trivia: Man, Cher having an affair with Tom Cruise is all the trivia you need.
Time for the "you ain't shit" portion of the festivities!
Mimi Rogers(59)
Period: 1986-1989
Backstory: Mimi and Tom met and became friends in 1985 as Tom partied with the Brat Pack and the rest of young Hollywood, while his star was rising after the success of Risky Business. They eventually hooked up and got married a year later in upstate New York. By the way, Mimi is the one who got Cruise into Scientology, allegedly as a way to help curb his constant infidelity. It didn't work, and Cruise would, according to journalist Tony Ortega's sources, carry on an affair with his Days of Thunder co-star Nicole Kidman, a mere two weeks into shooting. Mimi and Tom would divorce and Mimi would soon leave the Church of Scientology. Mimi is probably not a fan of Tom or Nicole's filmographies, for obvious reasons.
Quote: [on being the first Mrs. Cruise] ”[I’m] waiting for the moment when I don’t have to talk about that fucking name anymore.”
Trivia: Perhaps getting the last laugh, Mimi's infamous Playboy quote about Cruise (“Well, here’s the real story. Tom was seriously thinking of becoming a monk. At least for that period of time, it looked as though marriage wouldn’t fit into his overall spiritual need. And he thought he had to be celibate to maintain the purity of his instrument...My instrument needed tuning.”) has resulted in the gay rumors he just can't shake, decades later. her friends told Ortega the comment was just a dark, wry joke from Mimi. Perhaps a jab at his cheating? Either way, get it, Mimi.
Here's some more Tom and Mimi:
Nicole Kidman(48, two children, Connor, 20 and Isabella, 22)
Period: 1989-2001
Backstory: Perhaps the most famous Mrs. Cruise, Tom and Nicole met in November 1989 when Nicole was 22. She was cast in Days of Thunder at Tom's insistence, after he saw her in the film Dead Calm. What allegedly started as an affair turned into one of Hollywood's big couples. Brangelina before Brad and Angie. The ridiculously beautiful couple married on Christmas Eve 1990 and stayed together for ten years, adopting two children together after an ectopic pregnancy. They starred in three films together, as well as supported each other's artistic endeavors, including Tom producing Nicole's film The Others.
As we learned in the Scientology documentary Going Clear, the couple remained more or less happily married until Scientology allegedly manipulated Tom to break up with Kidman in late 2000. Unhappy that Tom had pretty much left Scientology with Nicole's coaxing, the church conspired to remove Nicole from the picture. The implied reason for the split was church members telling Tom his wife cheated, supported by Tom famously and publicly telling the press "Nicole knows what she did" (and was thus, as of 2015, his only statement on the break up). He hit a shocked Kidman with divorce papers just three days before their wedding anniversary, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce reportedly got ugly, with a blindsided Nicole keeping hold of DNA evidence from her recent miscarriage due to the stress of Cruise's break up, in part due to Cruise implying infidelity on her part in court papers. Nicole also challenged his assertion that they separated in early December 2000 (thus missing California's 50/50 divorce rule), saying they were intimate up to January 2001. Tom eventually backed down, giving Nicole their California home and jewelry, while retaining their New York and Colorado homes.
Tom hasn't spoken publicly of Nicole since the divorce, while Nicole acknowledged how traumatizing the break up was to her, saying she suffered from depression. Well, they both looked very much happy and in love for ten years and she was the one who kept him out of the cult for the duration of their marriage, and let's be real, they probably would still be married today if not for the church, aaaaand he's never looked as genuinely happy as he did with Nicole, so thanks, Scientology, for ruining two lives.
Quote:"He was huge; still is. To me, he was just Tom, but to everybody else, he is huge. But he was lovely to me and I loved him. I still love him."
Trivia: Nicole and Tom's phones were tapped by a tabloid, and a tape of a fight between the two while Nicole filmed Practical Magic was played in court. The now-divorced duo fought against the tape, in which they argued about their relationship, sex, mistreatment and their children, from being released, citing an invasion of privacy. The tape itself was destroyed but a transcript remains.
Anyway- here's a huge Nicole and Tom picspam. Enjoy the pretty and what was:
And finally, poor Nicole after signing the divorce papers, after being put through emotional turmoil for months:
Penelope Cruz(41)
Period: 2001-2004
Backstory: Cruise met Cruz on the set of Vanilla Sky, and the two allegedly began to see each other secretly as Cruise's divorce proceedings from Kidman was on-going, so it's kinda murky as to when they started officially hooking up. Cruise got side eye from the media and fans for going public with Cruz just days after his divorce from Kidman, and his popularity, already weakened by his behavior during his divorce, started to waver even more. People magazine reported Kidman found out about Cruz after "[Tom] flat out swore to [Nicole] up and down that there was nothing going on" during an alternating vacation to Fiji. Cruise even produced Cruz's BFF Salma Hayek's film Ask the Dust. After three years, the two split, citing distance and their busy schedules.
Quote: Cruz, long wary with the media, tersely told a prying journalist "We went our separate ways. It was no big deal. We haven't fallen out. We're friends. These things aren't really worth reporting or talking about."
Trivia: Cruise and Cruz remain good friends, and he was snapped after dining with her and Salma earlier this year.
Here's more Penelope and Tom:
Let's take a break to cheer on sisterhood and professionalism, with Penelope and Nicole doing press for Nine together in 2009:
Fuck him up, ladies. Back to the show!
Nazanin Boniadi(35)
Period: ALLEGEDLY 2004-2005
Backstory: Come on, we all know this story. According to Vanity Fair, Cruise, unhappy with how his relationships with Kidman and Cruz ended, asked the head of Scientology to hook him up with a lady. A fellow Scientologist, Nazanin was given a makeover and romanced by Cruise, eventually moving into his home. After a misunderstanding, the head of the church said she had to go, and Cruise allowed her to be taking away to do hard labor. Allegedly.
Quote: N/A, she ain't talking.
Trivia: This relationship came to light thanks to Vanity Fair and later, the Going Clear documentary.
Sofía Vergara(43)
Period: January 2005
Backstory: There is none, this appeared to be a fling which quickly ended when Vergara refused to even entertain Scientology. Allegedly.
Quote: [On the journalist not hearing a lot about Vergara and Cruise] "Let’s keep it that way! [Laughs hysterically] I don’t want to talk about that!"
Trivia: But for real, this was pre-Modern Family so us Latinx people were all
Katie Holmes(36, one child, Suri, 9)
Period: 2005-2012
Backstory: We all know about this one. And I don't even know. Does anyone know? Does anyone really understand why normally hella private Cruise lost is fucking mind with this one? This was some off shit. ANYWAY. Cruise met Katie in his quest to find a new partner. He jumped on Oprah's couch. They got married in a star-studded wedding (unlike his other two weddings) and had a daughter. He tried to make us call her "Kate." Everyone continued to be confused. Like, someone explain this.
Quote:“I’m happy that I’m with her. She’s amazing, and I’d think the same of her even if she wasn’t with me—she’s just amazing.”
Trivia: Katie made the Great Escape of the decade, deciding Tom wasn't going to do her and their daughter like he did Nicole and she hauled ass and beat Scientology. Tom later admitted in court that his beliefs "in part" had to do with the divorce. She escaped and now lives in New York with Suri. All hail Katie!
Tom should've followed her out but whatever. Here's more Tom and Katie:
Cynthia Jorge
Period: 2012
Backstory: A clearly distraught Cruise quietly dated Jorge, a restaurant hostess, soon after Holmes filed for divorce. The media found out and Cruise's people didn't know how to read, suddenly.
Quote: None. Jorge freaked out and went into hiding, deleting her social media after her friends told the press of her fling with Cruise. Her friend later told the media they just went out for drinks and he was a nice guy.
Tom is currently single, being his workaholic self and making movies. Would you be the new Mrs. Cruise, ONTD?
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, Google images, People magazine archive, my own memory
Discuss!