From gifting annual Christmas cakes to taking his colleagues out for fun experiences like skydiving, Tom Cruise loves spoiling his friends in the film industry. However, there is one person who can never forget how the superstar has been making her feel so special all these years – Dakota Fanning. Well, it’s quite difficult to forget someone who has never missed a single birthday of yours since you were eleven!
Dakota Fanning recently revealed that while she was filming her 2005 movie, War of the Worlds, with Tom Cruise, the actor surprised her by gifting her a mobile phone for her birthday. Eleven-year-old Dakota Fanning couldn’t have been more over the moon, even if she didn’t really have anyone to call or text with her new phone. Ever since then, Tom Cruise has made it an annual tradition to give the actress something or the other on her birthday.
Tom Cruise Can Never Forget Dakota Fanning’s Birthday
Harper’s Bazaar recently had the privilege of talking to Ripley’s Dakota Fanning and Andrew Scott. In the interview, Scott was asked to guess the person who gave Fanning her very first phone. The actor replied, “Okay, well it’s going to be some Hollywood icon … Tom Cruise.” Of course, he was spot on with his answer prompting Fanning to add, “Oh, my God, I was so excited.”
Cruise and Fanning were filming for Steven Spielberg‘s War of the Worlds which made $603 million at the box office. Since she was only eleven at the time, she “didn’t have anybody to call or text at that time.” But there was nothing that was going to diminish the excitement of eleven-year-old Fanning receiving a Motorola Razr. She continued,
“You know, I was 11. But I loved having it. I loved it. I felt so cool.”
The Coraline actress then revealed that since 2005, Tom Cruise has managed to send her a gift on every single one of her birthdays.
“Tom sends me a birthday gift every year, and has since that birthday.”
Hearing the story of his co-star getting spoiled by the megastar of Hollywood, Scott joked, “So thoughtful. Really, really nice. He’s never given me anything.”
Scott and Fanning can be seen playing Tom Ripley and Marge Sherwood in Netflix’s latest miniseries, Ripley.
Tom Cruise Has a Big Heart
Not only has Fanning been on the receiving end of gifts from Cruise but many other celebrities also. In fact, his Mission: Impossible co-stars once talked about how he constantly goes out of his way to surprise them with thoughtful gifts and experiences.
Hayley Atwell once told PEOPLE that she was very touched by Cruise’s “very thoughtful gifts.” She added,
“I’m on my fourth Christmas cake. I’ve had a few birthdays as well because we’ve been working together nearly, what, over three and a half years now.”
Atwell also revealed that Cruise even gifted her a “beautiful amphora…this beautiful old clay pot, which is a natural filtering system.”
Pom Klementieff also vouched for Cruise’s gift-giving skills. Keeping the coconut cake aside, she stated,
“Another beautiful gift that was so thoughtful is that I wanted to skydive with him and also the stunt team, but they said that I needed to get my license. So when I wrapped the movie, he gifted me, as my wrap gift, the lessons of learning how to skydive. He found a teacher for me and I learned how to skydive and I got my license and we even did jumps together.”
Cruise’s co-stars have time and again sung praises for the actor’s generosity and it’s truly a great feeling to see a superstar of his caliber think so much about his fellow actors. Where do we apply to get a friend like him?
Ripley is available to stream on Netflix.
