Dakota Fanning reveals a unique birthday tradition with Tom Cruise

Dakota Fanning reveals that Tom Cruise has been sending her the same birthday gift since they worked together.

Dakota Fanning recently revealed that Tom Cruise has been sending her birthday gifts every year since they worked together on the 2005 film "War of the Worlds." Speaking on Kelly Clarkson’s daytime talk show, Fanning shared that the gifts have consistently been shoes, a tradition that started when she turned 11 on the movie set.

Fanning recounted the memorable birthday during the filming of "War of the Worlds," directed by Steven Spielberg. “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” 

She went on to explain Cruise's annual gift-giving tradition: “He always sends me the same thing every year. 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.”

Kelly Clarkson responded to Fanning’s story by noting, “That’s so nice. That’s so random too, I love it. You must have a massive shoe collection brought to you by Tom Cruise!”

"War of the Worlds," which paired Cruise and Fanning as father and daughter, was a major success, grossing nearly $604 million worldwide and ranking as the fourth highest-grossing film of 2005. The film contributed to Fanning’s rising fame as a child star, following her performances in "I Am Sam," "Uptown Girls," and "Man on Fire."