Intriguing! Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s children, Isabella and Connor, have stayed largely out of the spotlight since their parents separated in 2001.
Cruise and Kidman, who married in December 1990, adopted Isabella, or “Bella,” two years later after the Big Little Lies actress experienced an ectopic pregnancy. The couple expanded their family in 1995 with the adoption of Connor.
“From the minute Tom and I were married, I wanted to have babies,” Kidman shared with Vanity Fair in 2007. “And we lost a baby early on, which was incredibly traumatic. That’s when we decided to adopt Bella.”
The two first met in 1989 before collaborating on Days of Thunder, and they remained deeply engaged in their work and family life throughout the late ’90s. When they starred together in Eyes Wide Shut in 1999, Kidman recalled their happiness during that time.
“We were happily married through that,” the Oscar winner told The New York Times in 2020, reflecting on the Stanley Kubrick film. “After filming those scenes, we’d go go-kart racing at three in the morning. We’d rent out a track and race. I’m not sure what else to say. Maybe I can’t look back and analyze it, or maybe I just don’t want to.”
The Moulin Rouge star remembered, “We were working with one of the best filmmakers and learning about ourselves, enjoying life on set. We’d ask each other, ‘When will this end?’ We thought it would take three months, but it ended up lasting a year, maybe more. But I told myself, ‘If I just go with it, I’ll have an amazing experience.’”
However, their time together ended in February 2001 when Cruise filed for divorce. By August that year, their divorce was final. Although Kidman agreed to joint custody of their children, Isabella and Connor decided to stay in Los Angeles with their dad. Kidman, meanwhile, lived in Australia.
When Cruise married Katie Holmes in November 2006, Isabella and Connor seemed to welcome their new blended family. (Holmes and Cruise had a daughter in April 2006, and they later split in June 2012.)
“Both Isabella and Connor are really close to Katie, much closer than they are to Nicole,” a source told Us Weekly in May 2012.
The Top Gun actor and his then-wife, Holmes, cheered on Isabella at her soccer game in Los Angeles.
Cruise and Holmes brought their daughter and his two older children to an LA Galaxy game at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
Connor and Isabella attended the premiere of Valkyrie with their dad at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles.
The father and son enjoyed a Lakers game together.
Connor, performing under the stage name DJ C-Squared, hosted the Nickelodeon 2011 TeenNick HALO Awards at the Hollywood Palladium.
To mark his first major film role, Connor attended the special screening of Red Dawn in California, joined by his costars Josh Peck, Julian Alcaraz, and Lucas Kerr.
The brother and sister attended a Shakespeare play together.
Connor proudly displayed his big catch while in Paris.
Bella offered fans a rare look at her personal style on Instagram.
“In rainbows,” the couple’s eldest child wrote as a caption for a selfie with an art installation.
Connor was seen at Super Bowl LVII in Arizona.
For the first time in nearly 15 years, Cruise posed with Isabella and Connor when the trio attended a Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Florida Panthers game.
As the years go by, Isabella and Connor continue to live life on their own terms, staying largely out of the spotlight while quietly supporting each other and their unique paths. Their journey, shaped by family and personal growth, remains a reminder of the strength of bonds that endure despite the passage of time.