Dakota Fanning and Tom Cruise starred together in the alien invasion movie War of the Worlds back in 2005. Even though the former child star was only 10 when she last worked with her film dad, it’s almost like time hasn’t gone by between the two. Fanning reveals that Cruise continues to be “so thoughtful” to her and has still remained connected to this day.
It turns out the Mission: Impossible star has continued to keep in touch with Dakota Fanning after all of these years. In fact, she revealed to ET at the New York City premiere of her new thriller The Watchers that she still receives birthday presents from the blockbuster star, saying:
He always sends me something every year. He gave me my first cellphone when I was 11 years old. That was my first gift from him and he's remembered it every year since then.
In a Harper’s Bazaar TikTok interview, Dakota Fanning revealed Tom Cruise gave her a Motorola Razr cell phone for her 11th birthday and has continued to give her presents every year since. He even got her a gift for her 30th birthday, which she celebrated in February. Cruise is clearly a generous friend to commemorate his former co-star’s birthday every year like an actual father would.
As one of the best movies of the 2000s, War of the Worlds presented the strong theme of family. Tom Cruise’s character, Ray, was initially shown to be an estranged father from his children, only to put his parenting skills to the test when an alien invasion makes its way into the world.
Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning had many father/daughter moments throughout War of the Worlds that can easily strengthen a bond outside of filming. Whether Ray is carrying his young daughter across town, preventing her from getting swallowed up by an alien or singing her to sleep, the parenting scenes truly allowed 2005’s box office hit to be a real standout film of Steven Spielberg’s filmography.
Dakota Fanning clearly does a great job keeping in touch with her co-stars no matter how many years have passed. She’s already doing that with her decades-long friend Denzel Washington after starring together in 2004’s Man on Fire. Then, they reunited for The Equalizer 3 which was a reunion we didn’t know we needed. Just when you thought the Uptown Girls actress’s friendship with Tom Cruise faded away after War of the Worlds released, the Top Gun star continued to be “so thoughtful” by telling her how often he’d like the two to keep in touch:
I always am like, 'Maybe when I'm 18?' Like that would be a normal place, you know what I mean? Or, like, 21 or whatever. And then he said a few years ago that he likes sort of that moment of checking in like once a year. It's so thoughtful, and I really appreciate it.
That’s so father-like of Tom Cruise to continue keeping in touch with his movie daughter every year. I’m still holding onto a film reunion with these two so we can see their father/daughter chemistry on screen once again.
According to Dakota Fanning, Tom Cruise continues being "so thoughtful" to The Watchers actress in the form of birthday presents to her. After one movie together, the powerful friendship between the two keeps on growing after over a decade.
You can see the on-screen father/daughter dynamic in War of the Worlds by streaming it with your Paramount+ subscription. Make sure to also catch Dakota Fanning’s 2024 movie release of The Watchers in theaters on June 7th.
