It was just the two of them, sitting in the dark. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, by themselves in a small screening room in midtown Manhattan last March, watching Eyes Wide Shut, the film directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring the Cruises, naked, in love and at war.
It was past midnight when the film ended, but neither of them moved. Kidman, on strict voice rest for her Broadway show, The Blue Room, madly scribbled notes to her husband; then they sat and watched it again. "The first time, we were in shock," Kidman recalls. "The second time, I thought, 'Wow!' It's going to be controversial. I'm proud of the film and that period of my life. It was my obsession, our obsession, for two or three years."
Two or three years for one movie? Were they mad? With Kubrick's famous obsession for perfection, the 18-week shoot turned into 52 weeks over 15 months. Cruise, Hollywood's $20 million man, took himself out of the game at the height of his career, accepted a sizable pay cut, moved his family to England, put himself through workdays that ran 12 to 16 hours and, in the process, developed an ulcer.
But far from feeling that they were hostages to Kubrick's vision, Cruise and Kidman say they dived in, eyes wide open, determined to share the adventure. "We knew from the beginning the level of commitment needed," says Cruise. "We felt honored to work with him. We were going to do what it took to do this picture, whatever time, because I felt--and Nic did too--that this was going to be a really special time for us. We knew it would be difficult. But I would have absolutely kicked myself if I hadn't done this."
Hours after the screening, Cruise, flying to the home the couple keep in Sydney, Australia, where he was preparing to shoot Mission Impossible 2, called Kubrick from the plane. "Stanley was so excited. We talked for four or five hours," says Cruise. Four days later came a call with the news that Kubrick had died. "I said, 'No, that's impossible,' " says Cruise. "Then the other phone line was ringing, and it was Nic in New York. She was really disturbed. I was really worried about her. I was in shock."
Even now--nearly four months later, in interviews with TIME--neither Cruise nor Kidman can talk about Kubrick without misting up. Kubrick had originally been worried that Cruise and Kidman would put on movie-star airs. But the three of them--the supposedly phobic recluse and his two glamorous stars--became extraordinarily close during the making of Eyes Wide Shut. Though both stars had full shooting schedules in Sydney this month and at-home birthday bashes (she just turned 32, he will be 37 this week), they were eager to talk about Kubrick with TIME. "We're so proud of the movie, but we have this strange feeling about its success," says Kidman. "Stanley was always around. And now he's gone."