Nicole Kidman Shares Candid Thoughts on Tom Cruise & Stanley Kubrick

when eyes closed Released in 1999, the film was a huge hit for several reasons. It was the final film by acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick, who He died of a heart attack at the age of 70 just six days after delivering the final cut of his film to Warner Bros.The project was also surrounded by some mystery, but what was known was that it would include: Then-married power couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman play characters whose marriage was in turmoil.It also sold a hint of eroticism that was uncommon at the time for both artists.

The film eventually became the highest-grossing film of Kubrick's career when taking into account its worldwide revenues, but it was met with mixed reactions from mainstream moviegoers. In the years following its release, eyes closed It has been re-evaluated as one of the director's best films and now Kidman is looking back on the film. 25 years after its releaseDuring a conversation with the Los Angeles Times, Kidman shared her memories of making eyes closed, Which went from a six-month shoot to nearly two years for her and Cruise.The film holds the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous film shoot in 400 daysAlthough the actress admits she would have stayed on the project longer.

Since Kidman and Cruise were married during filming, it's easy to assume that Kubrick was looking at their marriage to shape the characters of Dr. William “Bill” Harford and Alice Harford, and the actress admits that this may have been the case when asked if the director was exploiting their marriage during filming.

”
I think he was drawing it out. There were ideas that interested him. He was asking a lot of questions.
“But he had a keen sense of the story he was telling. I remember him saying, ‘Triangles are hard. You have to tread carefully when it comes to a triangle.’ Because one person might feel trapped. But he was aware of that and he knew how to deal with us.”

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman play a couple in crisis

In the film, Cruise and Kidman play a married couple dealing with jealousy and lust over the course of two days. After a night of heavy pot, Kidman’s Alice confesses that she almost had an affair with a naval officer the previous year and has considered leaving the life she had with her husband and their daughter, Helena (Madison Egginton). The revelation shocks Bill and sends him on an epic journey of sorts that includes several potential sexual encounters and a fateful night at a masked sex party attended by an elite secret society. The scene in which Kidman confesses her desire to cheat is a pivotal moment in the film that propels the main narrative forward, The actress admits that this scene was tireless hard work..

“It was the scene between me and Tom, where I started smoking a joint in bed and I laughed and did the long monologue.
It took several weeks.
“A lot of it came down to practicing in the bedroom and then him not liking what we did. So we ended up reworking it and building it as we went along. There was no rush. Stanley was never over budget. What he bought was time.”

Kidman admitted that the scene began to take shape thanks to a lot of communication between Kubrick, herself and Cruise as the trio became more comfortable with each other. As for how she was treated compared to her male co-star, Kidman seems to have been respectful, saying that Kubrick “loved women,” but admitting that the director had a different relationship with each one. Kidman said:

Kidman says Kubrick was very happy with Eyes Wide Shut.

eyes closed The film was released to mostly positive reviews from critics, scoring a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audience response was more divided. The film received a “D-” CinemaScore from opening-day audiences, indicating that moviegoers did not necessarily feel they were getting the movie the marketing was selling. For its $65 million budget, eyes were closed The film was a decent success, eventually grossing $162 million worldwide, $55.6 million of which came from the domestic front.

Time has been kinder to me. eyes closedwith many contemporary critics calling it one of Kubrick's best films. Since the director's death days after delivering the final cut, some have questioned whether the final result was his complete vision, but Kidman believes the final product is what Kubrick wanted..

“Oh yes.
He had been editing it for 18 months. It wasn't like he didn't have enough time. He was very happy with it.
“His offer to us was huge, if you knew Stanley well. And the Warners were there. He wasn't going to go back to the drawing board.”