Dakota Fanning went viral in April for revealing that not only did Tom Cruise gift her a cell phone when she celebrated her 11th birthday on the set of their 2005 movie “War of the Worlds” but that he’s also proceeded to send her a birthday gift every year since. That’s nearly two decades worth of birthday presents, all of which have apparently been shoes. Fanning revealed the specifics of Cruise’s gifting habits during a new interview on Kelly Clarkson’s daytime talk show (via Entertainment Weekly).
“I turned 11 on ‘War of the Worlds,’ when we worked together and he gave me my first cell phone for that birthday,” Fanning said. “It was a Motorola Razr…I didn’t have anyone to call, but I wanted a Razr so bad. I must have been talking about it a lot because that’s what he got me. It’s such a great memory.”
“He always sends me the same thing every year,” Fanning continued. “I loved shoes when I was little, and I started to be able to fit into really small adult shoes when I was on the ‘War of the Worlds’ press tour, so I was really excited about them. So from that birthday on, he always sends me shoes.”
“That’s so nice,” Clarkson reacted. “That’s so random too, I love it. You must have a massive shoe collection brought to you by Tom Cruise!”
Cruise and Fanning played father and daughter in “War of the Worlds,” which was directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie opened in June 2005 and grossed nearly $604 million at the worldwide box office, making it the fourth highest-grossing movie of that year. The blockbuster continued Fanning’s hot streak as a child star following hits such as “I Am Sam,” “Uptown Girls” and “Man on Fire.”
Watch Fanning’s full appearance on Clarkson’s daytime talk show in the video below.