May 1, 2000
Thandie Newton can thank Nicole Kidman for helping her land the female lead in Tom Cruise's MI-2, the sequel to Mission Impossible.

Newton made her film debut in the Australian coming-of-age comedy Flirting with Kidman shortly before the actress met and married Cruise.

"I remember one day on the set of Flirting Nicole telling me she'd got an audition with Cruise for his movie Days of Thunder.

"Jokingly, I asked why she'd ever want to work with him. We all know the answer to that now," says Newton.