Inside Tom Cruise’s marriage to first wife Mimi Rogers – and how it changed him forever

Tom Cruise’s love life has been the subject of intense public interest for decades, ever since he met and married Australian actress Nicole Kidman in 1990. 

The A-lister has had flings with everyone from Cher, to Bruce Springsteen’s future wife Patti Scialfa, to his Risky Business co-star Rebecca De Mornay. Yet it was his first wife, Mimi Rogers, who truly changed his life and set him on the path towards Scientology that he has stuck with to this day.

New beginnings

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Mimi was an up-and-coming actress waiting for her big break when she first met Tom at a dinner party. “I thought she was extremely bright,” the Top Gun star told Rolling Stone. 

She had moved to LA in 1980 after divorcing her first husband, Jim Rogers, and landed small parts in shows like Magnum P.I. 

Tom quickly fell in love with the brunette, who was six years older than him, and they wed in a small ceremony in 1987. 

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Mimi is credited with introducing Tom to the Church of Scientology, after growing up in the religious movement. Her father, Philip C. Spickler, was a prominent member of the church and close with its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. 

“This is the philosophy I grew up with. My parents were Scientologists,” she told Playboy in 1993. “It was a religious philosophy that I was shaped and formed by, part of my education. So, in that sense, it will always be there.” 

The actress is no longer a member, but Tom has gone on to become one of the most well-known Scientologists in the world. 

Domestic bliss

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The pair appeared blissfully happy in their marriage, often speaking about their spouse in interviews at the time. “I have a lot of happiness and security. I recommend it [getting married],” Mimi said to the Chicago Tribune in 1988. 

For Tom’s part, he shared that he “couldn’t imagine being without” his wife to Rolling Stone in 1990. 

“Since I’ve been with her, it’s opened me up a lot,” he said. “I think it’s helped me be a better actor. We live a lot of life together. We share everything. That’s the best thing about life. Otherwise, you go through it pretty sad and lonely and angry.”

He sweetly added: “I care about my wife more than anything in the world. She’s my best friend. I just really like being with her, you know? I love her.”

Coming to an end

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Shockingly, just days later, the couple announced they were separating after three years of marriage. Their statement read: “While there have been very positive aspects to our marriage, there were some issues which could not be resolved even after working on them for a period of time.” 

“Anyone who has been through this type of situation will understand that it is a complicated and difficult decision.”

Tom went on to begin filming Days of Thunder, where he met his future wife, Nicole Kidman. The pair were married in December of 1990, ten months after his divorce was finalized. 

Anatomy of a marriage

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In the years following, Mimi opened up about the fractures in their marriage, particularly how the pressures of fame tore them apart. 

“You cease to be an individual,” the mother of two told People in 1995. “No matter what the article is, it’s ‘Tom Cruise’s wife…,'” adding that she was “waiting for the moment when I don’t have to talk about that…name anymore.”

She further revealed that the media’s focus on their six-year age difference grew frustrating. 

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“The age thing really got on my nerves,” she told The Telegraph in 2001. “Every six months, they’d add another year. If we were still together now, I’d get 60.”

While Tom went on to divorce Nicole in 2001, and marry Dawson’s Creek actress Katie Holmes in 2006. This marriage also ended in divorce, after they had welcomed their daughter Suri together. Mimi married producer Chris Ciaffa in 2003 and the couple are still going strong, after welcoming kids Lucy and Charlie. 

 To learn more about Tom’s three rarely-seen children, watch below…