Tom Cruise's sweet gesture for Dakota Fanning every year since 'War Of The Worlds' revealed

17 April 2024, 13:44 | Updated: 17 April 2024, 13:53

Their paths first crossed in 2005.

Hollywood legend Tom Cruise first met youngster Dakota Fanning whilst filming the sci-fi epic War Of The Worlds, and have remained connected ever since.

Especially because there's one date on his calendar that the Top Gun star never forgets: her birthday.

In a recent interview for Harper's Bazaar, Fanning was asked by her co-star Andrew Scott, of Netflix drama Ripley: "Who gave Dakota her first cellphone?"

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Answering his own question with "OK, well it’s going to be some Hollywood icon … Tom Cruise," the young actress confirmed that was the case.

She recalled the present he bought her for her 11th birthday whilst filming together in 2005, and that it was a Motorola Razr.

"Oh, my God, I was so excited," the Twilight actress gushed, quickly explaining that she had no idea how to use it and "didn’t have anybody to call or text at that time."

"You know, I was 11," she joked. "But I loved having it. I loved it. I felt so cool."

Dakota then went on to reveal that wasn't the end of her presents from Cruise - it was only the beginning.

"Tom sends me a birthday gift every year, and has since that birthday," she admitted, confirming that the most recent one she received was for her 30th birthday this month.

Her Ripley co-star proceeded to joke: "So thoughtful. Really, really nice. He’s never given me anything." There's still time yet!

Tom Cruise's generosity as a gift giver to his many illustrious co-stars over the years has been well-documented.

He reportedly sends over 300 Hollywood celebrities one of his coconut cakes from Doan's Bakery, including the likes of Tom Hanks and Kirsten Dunst.

His many Mission Impossible co-stars have also vouched for his extreme generosity when it comes to gifting.

Pom Klementieff - who plays an assassin in the film franchise - revealed Cruise bought her skydiving lessons as a "wrap gift" once filming finished.

"He found a teacher for me and I learned how to skydive and I got my license and we even did jumps together. And now I'm addicted, so that's my new thing now!" she revealed.

Funny man Simon Pegg added more kind words, saying that his long-time on-screen pal is "always very keen to show his appreciation."

"I think he's so used to being the focus of attention, it's naturally his instinct to kind of reflect everything back."

"And he's always incredibly sort of generous in terms of his gratitude to us and how he thanks us and how he lets us know that we're valued," Pegg confirmed. 

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However, his type of gifts might not always be for the faint-hearted. During a break from shooting, Pegg said that Cruise treated the cast to a shark-diving trip.

"We were filming somewhere near some coastal waters where there were sharks and we had the afternoon off and we all jumped."

"It's such a Tom Cruise thing. We've been filming in a helicopter and he flew us in the helicopter to this place where you could go into a cage and feed sharks," he continued.

"It was one of those days that we got to the end of the day and we were like, 'That was a real Tom Cruise kind of day'."