Does Tom Cruise Have a Relationship With His Children?

Tom Cruise is one of the most famous actors on the planet, and he's also a dad to three children: Bella, Connor and Suri. Cruise and his ex-wife Nicole Kidman adopted Bella and Connor in 1992 and 1995, respectively, and the actor welcomed daughter Suri with ex-wife Katie Holmes in 2006.

All three of Cruise's children live very private lives, which makes it difficult to know much about their relationships with their father. But here's what we do know about Tom Cruise's three children.

Related: Tom Cruise's Net Worth in 2024

How many kids does Tom Cruise have?

Cruise is a dad to three kids: Bella, Connor and Suri.

Did Tom Cruise adopt his kids?

Cruise and ex-wife Nicole Kidman adopted Bella and Connor during their 11-year marriage.

"From the minute Tom and I were married, I wanted to have babies," Kidman told Vanity Fair in 2007. "And we lost a baby early on, so that was really very traumatic. And that's when we would adopt [our daughter] Bella."

Kidman's relationship with her adopted children is shrouded in mystery, the assumption being that it's strained. But she's spoken out on occasion to imply that she is still involved in her adopted children's lives.

"They are generous, kind and hardworking," she said of them in 2020 (via People). "And these are traits that I love to see in my children."

Who are the mothers of Tom Cruise's kids?

Nicole Kidman

Cruise and Kidman married in 1990 after meeting on the set of Days of Thunder. In a 2002 interview with Vanity Fair, Kidman recalled, "He basically swept me off my feet. I fell madly, passionately in love. And as happens when you fall in love, my whole plan in terms of what I wanted for my life—I was like, ‘Forget it. This is it.’ I was consumed by it, willingly.'"

But those intense feelings had consequences, she added. Kidman said she was "willing" to give up everything to be with Cruise. "I now see that as part of me. I’m willing to do that—I do it when I do a movie too," she said. "I’m willing to go, ‘Yeah, bring it on, consume me, intoxicate me.’ I want to feel alive—I want to reel, basically. I was reeling with Tom and I loved it and I would have walked to the end of the earth. That meant giving up a lot of things that were very important to me."

All that changed in 1995 after Kidman starred in To Die For and began to realize she had more to offer the world besides being Tom Cruise's wife. The pair ultimately split up in 2001 while Kidman's movie Moulin Rouge was in post-production. Kidman told Vanity Fair that she didn't understand why the divorce happened, and was totally surprised when Cruise pursued it.

By the time of her interview, Kidman told the outlet she was ready to move on. "Honestly, people have said everything under the sun. I just want to do my work, raise my kids, and hopefully find somebody who I can share my life with again, or, you know, have a number of different people at different times who come into my life. I don’t know what my future is. But I really don’t care what anybody else is saying."

The pair's children opted to live with their father following the divorce and remained members of the Church of Scientology.

Kidman met her husband Keith Urban in 2006 and the couple shares two daughters, Sunday and Faith.

In a 2018 interview with Who magazine, Kidman said she was "private" about her children. “I have to protect all those relationships," she said. "I know 150% that I would give up my life for my children because it’s what my purpose is.”

She also pointed out that her two oldest are “adults."

“They are able to make their own decisions. They have made choices to be Scientologists and, as a mother, it’s my job to love them,” she said.

Related: Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's Love Story

Katie Holmes

Holmes was engaged to her longtime boyfriend Chris Klein from 2003 to 2005, and she and Cruise were spotted together a month after that engagement ended. Their daughter, Suri, was born in 2006—the same year they wed at Odescalchi Castle in Italy.

Things between the pair seemed to be going well until they each announced their intention to divorce in 2012. Although they stayed mostly tight-lipped about the reasons behind the split, Cruise did suggest that the Church of Scientology was a factor in their breakup, as had been rumored. When ABC News asked Cruise if his religion played a role in the divorce, he answered, "Did she say that? That was one of the assertions, yes."

Who are Tom Cruise's kids?

Bella Cruise (1992)

Bella was born on Dec. 22, 1992, in Miami, Florida.

She graduated from West London's Delmar Academy of Make-up and Hair but these days is focused on design. In 2018, she started the line BKC (a.k.a Bella Kidman Cruise), selling t-shirts with her artwork on it. According to her site, "Bella has been an artist her entire life. Her go-to medium is marker on paper with her inspiration for her artwork drawn largely from friends, fashion, and music."

She and her husband, Max Parker, live in London.

Connor Cruise (1995)

Connor was born on Jan. 17, 1995. Although he dipped a toe into acting, appearing in Seven Pounds with Will Smith in 2008 and then taking a role in Red Dawn in 2012, he now lives a life out of the spotlight in Florida, where he pursues his love of deep-sea fishing.

He's also worked as a DJ.

Suri Noelle (2006)

Suri was born on April 18, 2006. She largely retreated from the public eye after her parents divorced in 2012.

In June 2024, she graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City (a.k.a. the “Fame School").

Although she's estranged from her father, she seems to be following in both her parents' acting footsteps. She played lead role of Morticia Addams in her high school’s performance of “The Addams Family: A New Musical."

Does Tom Cruise have a relationship with any of his children?

Cruise has reportedly been estranged from daughter Suri since his split from Holmes in 2012. It appears that he remains fairly close with Bella and Connor, however, and is sometimes photographed with his son at sports events.

Did Tom Cruise lose custody of Suri?

Holmes was awarded sole custody of Suri as part of her divorce agreement with Cruise, who also agreed to pay his ex-wife $400,000 a year until Suri turned 18.

Did Suri Cruise change her last name?

Suri now goes by Suri Noelle, although it's unclear whether she legally changed her name. Regardless, the moniker is a tribute to her mother, whose middle name is Noelle. Page Six reported that Suri used the surname at her high-school graduation in June 2024.

What has Tom Cruise said about fatherhood?

In 2006, Cruise said that he had always aspired to fatherhood. He said, "My whole life I always wanted to be a father. I always said to myself that my kids would be able to depend on me for anything." He also added, "I don’t believe you can spoil a child with too much love. You can never give a child too much love. There’s just no way."

He also discussed fatherhood in an interview with Esquire in 2010. "I'll never forget the moment I became a dad. But it's hard to describe—that level of responsibility, the desire to give such joy. The clarity: Nothing is more important than this. I remember that first night, just staring at Bella. I was checking her every second, just looking at her, feeling that immediate bond. I was probably looking at her so much that I was keeping her up."

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