An iconic photo of Nicole Kidman smoking a cigarette beside her now ex-husband Tom Cruise has gone viral on social media.
The image shows the Aussie actress looking glamorous in a gold dress at a Vanity Fair Oscar Party in West Hollywood in 2000.
Kidman appeared to be taking a deep drag on the cigarette inside iconic Los Angeles restaurant Morton’s while her former husband looks on. The photo was taken just under a year before the couple split.
Fans have interpreted the image -which features in photography book Jonathan Becker: Lost Time – as showing the Babygirl star’s marriage to Tom was effectively over.
‘She looked dead inside next to Tom,’ one person commented after it was reshared by Instagram account Velvet Coke.
‘She hated that man… she is so stunning honestly, that hair,’ another agreed.
An iconic photo of Nicole Kidman smoking with her ex-husband Tom Cruise at a Vanity Fair Oscar Party has gone viral
‘I love that you can see her resentment for him… The day that divorce was final, our girl came back to life!’ a third said.
‘I wonder if she ever even liked Tom at all,’ another questioned.
‘He was SO lucky to be by this woman’s side,’ one person commented while another added: ‘She’s so beautiful and then Tom Cruise is just right there…’
Nicole and Tom met on the set of Days of Thunder in 1989 and married the following year.
They share two adopted children – Connor, 29, and his sister Isabella Cruise, 31 – and were once one of Hollywood’s most influential power couples, raking in millions with every project.
The couple split in 2001, with Tom announcing the news on February 4 that year.
Although the split reportedly came as a ‘major shock’ to Nicole, the Australian actress refused to fade into her ex-husband’s shadow as his first actress wife Mimi Rogers did.
Fans have flocked to claim the image confirms that the Babygirl star’s marriage to Tom was over at the time
Jonathan Becker: Lost Time is available in bookstores and online
Instead, the Academy Award-winning star has carved out a career that has arguably eclipsed that of her ex.
In the wake of her divorce in 2001, Nicole scored roles in Moulin Rouge, The Hours, which won her an Oscar, and The Others.
Connor and Isabella also have three other siblings that includes Kidman’s two daughters Sunday, 15, and Faith, 13, who she shares with her second husband Keith Urban, 56, since marrying in 2006.
Plus, Cruise has an 18-year-old daughter, Suri, from his third marriage to actress Katie Holmes, 45, although he reportedly hasn’t seen her in more than 10 years, according to a number of publications such as Page Six.
Jonathan Becker: Lost Time is available in bookstores and online