Tom Cruise wasn’t in the mood to attend the Oscars, but he is more than happy to celebrate an old friend’s impressive birthday. Cruise recently flew out to the UK to celebrate actor Michael Caine’s 90th birthday, and he’s got the pictures to prove it.
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The Top Gun: Maverick star, now 60 himself, surprised some in the industry when he decided to skip the 2023 Academy Awards, especially considering his film was up for best picture (plus five others). Instead of rubbing elbows, Cruise decided to hop across the pond.
Comedian David Walliams also attended the party and posted some candid pics of Cruise with Caine on his social media.
“Happy 90th Birthday to the legendary Sir Michael Caine,” Walliams wrote on Instagram alongside a series of pictures from the dinner. Other photos from the birthday showed Cruise wrapping his arm around Caine as Walliams joined them for a snap.
Caine looked spry and excited despite the old age and recent health problems. The two-time Oscar winner continues to recover from back surgery to treat spinal stenosis — a condition caused by the narrowing of the spinal canal, resulting in back and neck pain. Caine reportedly requires a walking frame to move around these days.
As for the menu? We can’t be sure, but it appears lots of chocolate cake and red wine made an appearance.
Tom Cruise decided to skip the Academy Awards, and his ex-wife Nicole Kidman probably wishes she had, too
Sources close to Cruise said the A-lister didn’t attend the Oscars ceremony because he didn’t want an awkward run-in with ex-wife Nicole Kidman. Kidman, 55, divorced Cruise more than 20 years ago. Perhaps Cruise’s instincts were correct, though, given that Kidman received plenty of camera time, despite only attending as a presenter.
The Australian actress sat front and center amidst dozens of other big names. In his opening monologue, host Jimmy Kimmel zeroed in on Kidman in particular; then later on in the show, when Kimmel started telling more jokes int he corwd, Kidman looked visibly relieved when the host skipped over her.
“The next question is for…” host Kimmel says as he’s gliding past Kidman, who was clearly expecting more heat.
“The next question is for, oh Jessica Chastain,” Kimmel said. Kidman then showed an immediate sense of relief, a reaction that made social media viewers giggle with delight.
“Nicole is all ‘thank f****** god’ lol,” wrote @littlelostsunny alongside the video on Twitter. “Me when the teacher asks a question and is looking at my direction but calls the one behind me,” wrote @shaniakenna. “Me when a stand up comedian starts interacting with the audience,” @PaulCullenDub said. Meanwhile @tyriontheking added, “all of us in an impromptu question session by a teacher!”