Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise barred from having separate trailers on ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ set

23 July 2024

Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise were barred from having separate trailers on the ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ set.

Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise were barred from having separate trailers on the ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ set

The Oscar-winner, 57, starred alongside Tom, 62, in the 1999 Stanley Kubrick movie, which saw her play the wife of Tom’s doctor character Bill Hartford, who sends him reeling when she tells him she fantasised about sleeping with another man.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the film’s release, Nicole told the Los Angeles Times about how the iconic filmmaker made them share space during shooting:

“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.’.”

She added Tom would regularly spend his downtime playing video games such as ‘Minesweeper’ in their trailer in between filming.

Nicole also said they spent huge amounts of time with Stanley – who died aged 70 the year ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ came out – at his home as they prepared to make the film.

She added: “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. For that scene, we improvised the beginning of it through the rehearsals.”

Fans have speculated shooting the film’s intense scenes that delved into complex couple dynamics put a strain on Nicole and Tom’s marriage, and the actress said they spent weeks shooting one heavy scene that was eventually cut.

She added: “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.

“So we ended up reworking it, constructing it as we went along. There was no need to rush. Stanley would never go over budget. What he bought was time.”