Nicole Kidman debunks alleged Tom Cruise divorce celebration meme

Australian actress Nicole Kidman has debunked the widely held theory that one the most famous photos of her features the moment she finalised her divorce from Tom Cruise.

The revelation came during an interview with British GQ magazine, published Monday, in which the Hollywood star was asked if she could remember the image of her standing in the sun in a pink top, with her eyes closed and arms out, wearing an expression of celebration and relief.

“Yes,” she told the publication. “That was not me — that was from a film, that wasn’t real life. I know that image.”

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British GQ then put to Kidman the theory — which ultimately became a viral meme using the image — that she had just come out of her lawyer’s office after finalising her divorce from Cruise. The pair married in 1990 and divorced 11 years later.

“That’s not true,” she said, reportedly laughing, before revealing the story behind another famous meme of her.

“I’ve also seen the one where I’m clapping like that,” she said, clapping using only her palms with her fingers stretching backwards.

“’I had a massive, heavy, borrowed ring on, and it was really painful and I was scared of wrecking the jewellery.

“Ha! There’s always something behind the actual images that go out there, right?”

Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise at a premiere in Los Angeles in June 1993. Credit: Barry King/WireImage

Kidman also spoke at length about upcoming film Babygirl, as well as how experiences such as losing her father in 2014 have made her feel life more intensely.

“Mortality. Connection. Life coming and hitting you. And loss of parents and raising children and marriage and all of the things that go into making you a fully sentient human,” she said.

“I’m in all of those places. So, life is, whew. It’s definitely a journey.”

Kidman was also asked why she continues to push herself at the age of 57, given her considerable success in the industry.

“Wanting to be a part of the world,” she said.

“Examining this life and why we’re all here and what it’s all about.

“I get to work with the most extraordinary people in the world, and share ideas and philosophies and be changed. God, why wouldn’t you want to do it if you can?”