Tom Cruise Makes Rare Personal Comments While Accepting Honorary Oscar

Tom Cruise was in the process of divorcing first wife Mimi Rogers when he met Nicole Kidman making the racing movie Days of Thunder in early 1990. He proposed to the Australian actress once he was officially single and they tied the knot that year on Christmas Eve.

"It was that special connection when you recognize your soul mate," Tom told Vanity Fair in 1994. "She is a person who understands. It was as if a whole new life had started for me."

They announced their divorce in February 2001 with a press release citing the "difficulties inherent of diverging careers which constantly keep them apart." Though it's unclear if Nicole agreed with that rationale.

"I'm starting to understand now [why we broke up]," she told Vanity Fair toward the end of 2002. "At the time I didn't."

Her ex, meanwhile, had told the publication earlier that year, "She knows why, and I know why. She's the mother of my children, and I wish her well. And I think that you just move on. And I don't say that lightly. I don't say that with anything."