Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes shared a courtship, marriage, and divorce that played out in the public eye. Their union reached a fever pitch when Cruise was promoting his film War of the Worlds. It was a time when Cruise's personal life threatened to overshadow his work.
It wouldn't be the first time Cruise's romantic life was the subject of public speculation. During production on Days of Thunder, there were rumors that Cruise left his then-wife Mimi Rogers for his co-star Nicole Kidman.
It was during Days of Thunder that Cruise's unconventional process for remembering his lines led to the actor risking his life. Years after his divorce from Holmes, she would reveal her own process for memorizing her lines. Her process couldn't be more different from that of her ex-husband.
Tom Cruise And Katie Holmes' Marriage Ignited A Media Firestorm And Ended In Divorce
In a 2004 interview with Seventeen, Holmes said, "I used to think that I was going to marry Tom Cruise." At the time, she was engaged to actor Chris Klein.
It was a mere six months after that article came out that Klein and Holmes announced their split. Just one month after than announcement, Holmes and Cruise made their red carpet debut as a couple in Rome.
Cruise and Holmes had a very public courtship, which happened to take place during promotion for Cruise's film War of the Worlds. Cruise was making headlines for his behavior, including sparring with Matt Lauer on Today and jumping on Oprah's couch.
It all culminated in a very public proposal in June 2005. Cruise was in Paris and announced their engagement at a press conference promoting the film.
"Yes, I proposed to her. … It was early this morning at the Eiffel Tower, so I haven’t slept at all," Cruise said. "Today is a magnificent day for me, I’m engaged to a magnificent woman."
The couple reportedly shared a candlelit dinner at Le Jules Verne restaurant at the Eiffel Tower at 12:30 a.m., which was followed by the proposal. Proposing in one of the most romantic cities in the world wasn't a coincidence.
When asked why he proposed at the Eiffel Tower, Cruise said, "I’ve never been to the Eiffel Tower. It’s Paris, it’s a beautiful city, it’s very romantic."
Reporters told Cruise that he seemed like a changed man. He replied, "It’s definitely love and France. I’ve never felt like this before. She’s an extraordinary woman and I love her very much. My family is doing well and I’m just very happy. Then you come to Paris … But it’s definitely Katie."
When Holmes filed for divorce in the summer of 2012, Cruise himself admitted he "didn't expect" it. While the move was surprising for Cruise, the legal proceedings ran very smoothly. The two even reached a settlement within 11 days.
Tom Cruise Risked His Life While Trying To Memorize His Lines For 'Days Of Thunder'
Of course, Holmes wouldn't be Cruise's first trip down the aisle. Cruise was first married to Mimi Rogers. However, the two wouldn't live happily ever after. In fact, many speculated Cruise left Rogers for his next wife, Nicole Kidman.
According to an unauthorized biography on Cruise by author Andrew Morton, the actor filed for divorce from Rogers on December 9, 1989. Just two days later, Cruise began production on Days of Thunder with Kidman. Cruise would later tell Vanity Fair in 1995 that meeting Kidman for the first time was "instant lust."
The couple finalized their divorce in February 1990. Cruise and Kidman were reportedly married that December.
In a 2016 appearance on The Jess Cagle Interview, Kidman described the first time she saw Cruise while auditioning for Days of Thunder.
"I remember being so nervous and seeing Tom Cruise drive up in a Porsche," Kidman recalled. "He got out of the car and walked through the door, and I was like, ‘Ah.’ My jaw dropped."
During production, Cruise would often mess up and forget his lines while filming driving scenes. He initially tried to tape pages of paper with his lines onto the dashboard of the car. However, Cruise ended up wrecking a car while trying to read and drive at the same time.
Cruise ultimately decided to have his lines fed to him through an earpiece for the driving scenes.
Katie Holmes Revealed She Memorizes Her Lines One Word At A Time
Cruise's ex-wife, however, has a very different process for remembering her lines. In a 2023 interview with Variety, Holmes shared her process for memorizing her lines.
"It’s silly. But if the line is 'I’m going to Sant Ambroeus.' I go — 'I.' 'I am.' 'I am going.' 'I am going to.' That’s the way I was taught," Holmes said. "It takes a long time."
"Before every scene, I go through my lines. I have a little secret show bible next to the stage. Just like in life, you can have a brain fog. Some people could just go in. I’m too nervous."
However, like her ex-husband and every other actor, Holmes has forgotten her lines on occasion. She shared an embarrassing story with David Letterman in 2012 about an on-stage moment during her Broadway run in Dead Accounts.
"A couple weeks ago I had the moment that I’ve been dreading," she said. "I have this kind of big speech in the second act, and it’s pretty important because it kind of goes along with the theme of the show. I said the first line — and I’m looking at Judy Greer and I’m supposed to be angry at her — and then the second line I didn’t remember. And I didn’t remember the third one."
"I just looked at her like, ah!" Holmes continued, saying that she improvised for a bit before finding her way back. "Obviously, I know what the point of it is. So, I kind of made my way there."
