What Nicole Kidman's exes have said about dating her: Keith Urban, Tom Cruise, Lenny Kravitz

In the mid-1980s, Nicole dated her Windrider co-star Tom Burlinson, now 69, who was 11 years older than her. He told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2020: "Nicole Kidman and I made a movie, Windrider, in 1986 and dated for three years. I was 11 years older and it was her first relationship with a man as an adult." 

"We had happy times, but she had her own path to take in life." He did add though: "One thing that has been written about us, which is incorrect, is that I asked her to marry me and she said no. I've only proposed once in my life."

In the late '80s, she dated Australian actor Marcus Graham, though they eventually broke up when she starred in Days of Thunder with Tom Cruise and fell in love with him. In 2023, Marcus, now 61, noted to Woman's World that at the time, their breakup caused a lot of hurt. "A brilliant, gorgeous, talented actress meets big Hollywood movie star and he says, 'Come with me.' I think you say, 'Go, are you mad?' It must have been wonderful for her."

"I was devastated and heartbroken, but that's the way it goes, isn't it?" he continued. While he said he "cried for a long time" and was "really hurt and confused" over the ordeal, he doesn't bear any ill will toward her. "I don't have anything bad to say about Nicole," he affirmed.

Nicole met Tom, now 63, in 1989, and they tied the knot a year later, welcoming two children together. However, the couple divorced by 2001. While the Moulin Rouge actress has reflected on her divorce more openly, Tom's comments have been more sparing. He told Vanity Fair in 2002 of the divorce: "She knows why, and I know why. She's the mother of my children, and I wish her well."

"Things happen in life, and you do everything you can, and in every possible way, and there's a point at which you just sometimes have to face the brutal reality," he concluded. Earlier this year, however, he spoke of her for the first time in nearly two decades for Sight and Sound in reference to their 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut. "I suggested Nicole play the role [of Alice]. Because obviously she's a great actress," he simply noted.

Between 2002-03, Nicole dated rocker Lenny Kravitz, and during that time, the two were also briefly engaged. However, their relationship eventually came to an end, although the exact details still remain a mystery. She was, however, close with his daughter Zoë, later starring with her in Big Little Lies. 

When that news made the rounds in 2017, Lenny, now 61, affirmed that he and his ex were on great terms while speaking with Mr. Porter's The Journal. "Nicole is amazing," he gushed. "Zoë and she hadn't spent time together since she was younger, since Nicole and I were together, so that was great."

The now-exes have spoken about each other extensively over the years. One particularly poignant comment about the dynamic of their relationship, though, came last year, at Nicole's AFI Lifetime Achievement tribute ceremony, where Keith shared a video message talking about how she helped him through his early struggles with addiction.

"We got married in 2006, and barely four months into our marriage, the addictions that I had done really nothing about blew our marriage to smithereens," he emotionally recalled. "Nic pushed through every negative voice – I'm sure even some of her own – and she chose love. And here we are tonight, 18 years later. Her capacity to love is like no one I've ever met."