Nicole Kidman looks back on career risks she was willing to take for Tom Cruise

Nicole Kidman has opened up about being willing to give up her acting career at one point in her life for her marriage to Tom Cruise.

The Australian actress, now 59, made the admission in a recent interview where she reflected on getting married at just 22 years old.

“Yeah, I got married so young,” she told British Vogue. “Suddenly, I was 22, 23 years old and I had this huge movie star husband, but it just seemed completely natural.”

Kidman and Cruise met while filming Days of Thunder in 1990 and got married shortly after. Together, they adopted two children.

Kidman recalled being warned by others that marrying Cruise could hurt her career, but she said she didn’t care because she was deeply in love. 

“We just fell madly in love and it was that simple. I remember people saying to me, ‘Okay, well this is really going to affect your career,'” she said. “I’m like, ‘I don’t care. I’m in love. I want to be married.'”

She explained that even when people pointed out that her career had become tied to being known as his wife, she felt it was worth it.

 “Then, I was his ‘wife’ and they were like, ‘See, we told you.’ I’m like, ‘So what? I wasn’t meant to marry the man I love? Of course I’ll throw my career away. I don’t care.'”

Despite the warnings, Kidman’s career continued to grow during their marriage, and the couple later worked together on two more films.

Kidman and Cruise eventually divorced in 2001. She later married musician Keith Urban in 2006, and the couple divorced earlier this year. Cruise was also married to actress Katie Holmes for several years after his marriage to Kidman ended.