Why Does Tom Cruise Keep Buying Shoes for Dakota Fanning?

Suzy Byrne
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
Dakota Fanning and Tom Cruise bonded on the set of
Dakota Fanning and Tom Cruise bonded on the set of “War of the Worlds” and remain tight today. (Photo: Getty Images)

Working with Tom Cruise is the gift that keeps on giving — well, it was for Dakota Fanning.

The American Pastoral actress co-starred with the movie megastar in 2005’s War of the Worlds when she was a pre-teen. The bond between the pair, who played father and daughter, remains today, Fanning said on Watch What Happens Live this week.

“I haven’t seen him in a while, but he has sent me a birthday gift every year since I was 11 years old and I’m 22,” she shared. “Beautiful gifts. It’s really kind. I always think: Oh, when I’m 18, he’ll probably stop, or 21...”

At the
At the “WotW” premiere in 2005. (Photo: Billy Farrell/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

But he doesn’t. So what does Cruise, 54, buy a 20-something actress who loves fashion? Footwear!

“It’s usually shoes,” she shared.

Dakota was in seventh grade when the sci-fi movie came out. At the press junket, she talked about meeting Cruise for the first time on the set.

“When I first met Tom … he came out of the scene where the aliens come out of the ground [and] grabbed me by the shoulders and he said, ‘WE’RE MAKING WAR OF THE WORLDS, BABY!’ He started shaking me real hard,” she recalled. “Then I realized I was actually going to be in the movie, I couldn’t believe it.”

Mini Dakota continued, “When I met him, I realized that when you see him on TV in interviews and things, he’s the same person I know in real life. He makes you feel comfortable and enjoys life and had a great time every day.”

Well, it’s certainly a thoughtful gesture for him to remember her every year, especially now that it’s more than a decade later. Though it does make us wonder what he gifts his own daughter Suri Cruise for her birthday, considering — gulp! — they maybe haven’t seen each other in a few years.