What Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman Have Shared About Kids Bella, Connor

Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman's Son Connor Cruise Makes Rare Public Outing

Navigating life in the spotlight can sometimes feel like riding into the danger zone.

So, it makes sense that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s kids Bella Kidman Cruise and Connor Cruise have chosen to live a more private life.

But the son of the Top Gun actor and the Babygirl star reentered the public eye when he attended Game 4 of the 2026 World Series Oct. 27. Cheering on the Tampa Bay Rays as they held on to their run for the title by beating the then-3-0 Milwaukee Brewers in extra innings, Connor wrote on Instagram, "You gotta believe!!!" And while the Wisconsin team ultimately won the championship in Game 5, you gotta believe the rare sighting of him caught the attention of fans.

Not that this fascination around Connor and Bella is anything new. Given their mom and dad’s fame, it’s been practically mission: impossible for the brother-sister duo to fly under the radar ever since they were little.

About two years after Tom and Nicole wed in 1990, they adopted daughter Bella. 

“I'll never forget the moment I became a dad,” the Vanilla Sky alum recalled to Esquire in 2010. "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."

Becoming parents a second time with the adoption of Connor in 1995, "I just believe, for whatever reason,” Nicole told Vanity Fair that year, "that these children were meant to be in our family."

But it turns out she and Tom weren’t meant to be as they divorced in 2001.

"We will be the parents of two children for the rest of our lives, and that is the priority," the Moulin Rouge! alum told ABC News that year. "So with that comes the need to be very mature, and the need to deal with it rationally."

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Both found love again—Nicole tying the knot with now-former husband Keith Urban in June 2006 and Tom marrying ex-wife Katie Holmes that November months after they welcomed daughter Suri Noelle (Twelve years after her parents' 2012 divorce, she traded in her birth name of Suri Cruise). 

Calling it "very moving" to see his two eldest children take on the big sister and big brother roles, "I look at those moments of watching Bella and Connor grow up,” the Mission: Impossible star told Vanity Fair in 2006, "and you get a sense of what kind of people they are going to be as adults.”

Bella and Connor gained another sibling when Nicole and Keith welcomed daughter Sunday in 2008.

"They're very adoring of her," the Oscar winner told Glamour in 2008. "They're used to having a little one around, because of Suri. Bella is very maternal. Connor would like one of us to have a boy."

However, he got another little sister when Nicole and Keith’s daughter Faith arrived in 2010. 

While Bella and Connor got to know their youngest sibling too, “It’s so different because they don’t live with us,” The Hours star admitted to 60 Minutes Australia in 2011. "But I would love them to come and live with us at some stage. I mean, they’re 18 and 16. It’s a different thing. They’re teenagers. They’re in a whole different place."

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Despite this physical distance, Bella and Connor have spoken about their closeness to Nicole.

“I love mom. She's my mom. She's great. I see her sometimes and I speak to her,’” she told New Idea magazine in 2012, per the Daily Mail. "We’re a very close family. I love all of our family."

And her brother has shut down rumors that suggest otherwise.

“I don't care what people say, I know that me and mum are solid,” Connor noted to Woman's Day in 2014. "I love her a lot. My family means everything."

So, Nicole is going to focus on the bond she has with Connor and Bella rather than any big, little lies. Calling them “generous, kind and hardworking,” she told Now to Love in 2014 that "these are traits that I love to see in my children."

And there’s a reason Nicole doesn’t share more.

 “I’m very private about all that,” she expressed to Who in 2018. “I have to protect all those relationships. I know 150 percent that I would give up my life for my children because it’s what my purpose is.”

Which means she won’t be diving deeper into Connor and Bella’s views on Scientology, a religion their dad also follows.

Stressing Bella and Connor are adults who can make their own decisions, "They have made choices to be Scientologists," Nicole continued, "and as a mother, it’s my job to love them."

For their part, Bella and Connor have given some glimpses into their lives. Over the years, they’ve posted the occasional selfie, shown support for family on Instagram, released her art and his DJ music and made a few rare public appearances.

And while they’re now adults, the memories of their childhood haven’t cruised away from Tom’s mind. 

Recalling when Bella entered the world, “I made a promise to her: All I can do is the best I can,” the Jerry Maguire actor told Esquire in 2010. "But I'm not going to say I'm gonna do something and then not do it. If I tell you we're gonna have ice cream on Friday night, we're gonna have ice cream on Friday night. If I say I'm gonna take your call anytime you need me, and I'm in the middle of something on the set, my world is gonna stop for you.”

“I made that promise to all of my kids,” he continued. "I never really discussed it with them, but talking with Bella and Connor now that they're teenagers, I know I've accomplished that. When I think of my successes, that's right up there."

Instagram / Connor Cruise

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Instagram

Instagram / Connor Cruise

Instagram / Connor Cruise

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Instagram / Bella Kidman Cruise

Instagram / Connor Cruise

Instagram / Connor Cruise

Instagram / Connor Cruise

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