Tom Cruise has given Dakota Fanning a pair of shoes for every birthday since the release of their 2005 smash hit film War of the Worlds – after bonding with the actress when she played the role of his on-screen daughter.
The now 30-year-old star made the revelation during a performance The Kelly Clarkson Show this week, gushing about her close relationship with Tom, 61, who is famously estranged from his real-life daughter Suri Cruise.
While Suri, whose mother is actress Katie Holmes, recently celebrated her 18th birthday without her father, it seems Tom has had a lasting presence in Dakota’s life, at least as far as her birthdays go.
Tom and Dakota starred as father and daughter trying to survive an apocalyptic alien invasion in the hit film War of the Worlds, directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the novel of the same name by HG Wells.
While the photo was being filmed, Dakota turned eleven, and Tom gave her the Motorola Razr cell phone she openly coveted.
Tom Cruise has given Dakota Fanning shoes for every birthday since the release of their 2005 film War Of The Worlds, she revealed on The Kelly Clarkson Show this week
The Steven Spielberg film stars Tom and Dakota as father and daughter trying to survive a catastrophic alien invasion of planet Earth
Then the couple began making media appearances for the film, and Dakota began indulging her budding love for shoes.
“From that birthday on, he always sends me shoes,” Dakota, who turned 30 in February, presented this week on The Kelly Clarkson Show.
‘I turned 11 at War Of The Worlds, when we worked together, and he gave me my first mobile phone for that birthday. It was a Motorola Razr,” she recalled.
“I wanted a Razr so bad and I must have talked about it a lot because that’s what he gave me,” she said, laughing. “It was such… such a beautiful memory.”
Dakota then explained, “He always texts me the same thing every year, after the cell phone. I loved shoes when I was little, and I started fitting into really small adult shoes when I was on the War Of The Worlds press tour, so I was really excited about it. And so from that birthday on he always sends me shoes.’
Her charming revelation comes shortly after she revealed: “Having children is probably more important to me than anything, even as an actor.
She honestly admitted, “If someone told me I had to choose, I would choose to have children. I’m one of those people who’s always felt that pull.”
The decision was all the more striking because, as she said PORTER: ‘Being an actor is a big part of my identity. I don’t really know who I would be without it.’
Despite her dedication to her work, she explained that “I also have a desire to organize my life and career so that I always have a choice.”
When she finally had children, she said, “I don’t know how I’ll feel when that time comes in my life – and how much I’ll want to work. But because I don’t have that at the moment, I’m trying to take advantage of the adventures now.’
While the picture was being filmed, Dakota turned eleven, and Tom gave her the Motorola Razr cell phone she openly coveted; depicted in the film
Then the couple began making media appearances for the film, and Dakota began indulging her budding love of shoes; pictured at the MTV Movie Awards in June 2005
“From that birthday on, he always sends me shoes,” Dakota, who turned 30 in February, presented this week on The Kelly Clarkson Show; Tom is in the photo last year
She added, “I’m trying to push myself to keep saying yes to things that make me uncomfortable, to go for long periods of time to places that might scare me, because — God willing — it one day will win. ‘don’t be so easy.’
Dakota has been careful to keep her love life out of the public eye, but about half a decade ago it was revealed that she was dating a man named Henry Frye.
Elsewhere in her new interview, she revealed how her mindset has evolved in a positive light since reaching her last birthday.
“I wouldn’t say I’m not a happy person, but I do think the late 20s f***ed with you,” said the actress, whose sister Elle Fanning has also become a star.
‘I feel happier and more aware of what I have, rather than what I don’t have. I know who I am, and the people who know me know who I am, and that’s really all that matters,” the I Am Sam star explained. “But there’s something about saying it at 30 that feels different than saying it at 28.”