#old lore

1997 - The first time they meet and are photographed in the same frame is at the London premiere of The Portrait of a Lady (February 20 1997)

1998 - Ewan presents Nicole an award at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards (November 30 1998)

- This was around the time Baz Luhrmann was on the search for who would be playing Christian and Satine. Nicole was on Broadway, and Ewan was also doing a show at West End. This is what Baz said regarding that matter and how it went: Yes, Nicole was on stage on Broadway in "The Blue Room" and Ewan was in the West End in a play as well. So I really had to take a punt on that chemistry and I must say Ronna Kress, my casting director, really held my hand and said, "Look, you've got to take the leap of faith." And we did and it really is a chemical reaction between the two of them.

Nicole herself in 2012 recalled the time they had seen each other during this event: 

I remember auditioning with a number of different actors, younger actors, for the role. One of them was Heath Ledger, another was Jake Gyllenhaal. That would have been a different way to go, but I remember Baz saying, “There’s also someone else I’m considering and that’s Ewan McGregor. He can’t come over here to audition but I’ve heard him sing and he’s amazing.”

I had met Ewan once (He was wearing a kilt.) I think it was at a theater event when I was doing The Blue Room in London and I just clicked with him. I love his humor. I just went, wow, to be able to act opposite Ewan McGregor in THIS film would be such a dream. 

(video footage)

1999 - MOULIN ROUGE PRE-PRODUCTION, REHEARSALS, AND FILMING STARTED

Nicole (in a 2012 interview) :

So I had to audition with every young hot male actor in Hollywood. We were writhing around on a couch. I would have to undo their belts and take down their pants and say dialogue like, ‘Oh my, you are a 'BIG BOY', aren't you?’ Anyway, Ewan McGregor got the role so we know who the 'BIGGEST boy' is. I remember we met for the first time in Australia when we went there to do this 8-week rehearsal workshop process. I took one look at him and I heard him sing Elton John’s Your Song and I just thought, oh my gosh, you’re going to be amazing in this film. Every time he sang Your Song to me, and I mean, because of all the rehearsals and all the shooting, and it was a long shoot, I must have heard him sing that to me well over 500 times and I still get tingles. That’s how powerful the song is. But it’s also how powerful Ewan is singing it. I think he’s so beautiful in the film and I would love to work with him again.

*** FOR APPROXIMATELY FOUR MONTHS BEFORE PROPER PRODUCTION OF MR STARTED, BOTH NICOLE AND EWAN HAVE SAID THAT THEY LIVED IN BAZ LUHRMANN’S VILLA IN AUSTRALIA FOR SINGING / DANCING REHEARSALS AND OTHER STUFF RELATED  ****

AUGUST 1999 - EYES WIDE SHUT AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE 

And what turned out to be Nicole and Tom Cruise’s last project together before their separation (some speculation about their marriage problems started during this time too), Ewan is seen at the film’s screening with Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin.

NOVEMBER 8 1999 - MOULIN ROUGE FILMING BEGAN

DEC 8 1999 - Ewan and Nicole are out and about at the premiere of Burn the Floor

It's been allegedly said that Tom Cruise insisted Mission Impossible II be filmed in Australia too so they could both see each other or visit one’s sets, however no one ever recalled Nicole visiting Tom. Baz Luhrmann also did say that TC dropped by the MR set a few times, and it was also apparently out in the open and known that Eve Mavrakis (Ewan’s then wife) would drop by the Moulin Rouge set as well.

2000 - MOULIN ROUGE FILMING CONTINUES

Nicole admits she “fell in love with Ewan “everytime he sang” and was “crushing on him” during this time period.

It didn’t help either, when Ewan himself also said these things about her:

We had a wonderful time and Nicole is a wonderful woman, chemistry came naturally, since we spent four months rehearsing, taking dance and singing classes and when you spend so much time with a person you get to know her a lot. We were totally immersed in the world of the Moulin Rouge. As it was such a long movie, in the end Nicole and I had a dependency on each other.

Nicole and I both did throw sickies on a couple of occasions and just didn't go in. Ha!"

Nicole's one of those actresses whom you're slightly in awe of. You imagine her as the movie star from the front covers of magazines; that she's untouchable and that somehow gets in the way of her being human and funny. But she really is good fun. You meet her and discover she's just funny and girly. She's really giggly and you can make her laugh - a lot.

Ewan: I use to say she was a skanky whore, which really pissed her off. But, yes. She plays a courtesan. A high-class whore. A high-class skanky whore. Nicole: I’d say, ‘you’re meant to be in love with me! You cannot refer to me as a skanky old whore!’ And he’d go, ‘Oh, yeah. Sorry. (From Details Magazine, 2001)

Moulin Rouge’s head choreographer even admitted that he would have to kick those two out of rehearsals frequently because they couldn’t stop ‘giggling with one another.’

From a March 2000 gossip report: The situation [rumors about an affair] was not helped by the fact that Kidman admitted to having a CRUSH on the Scottish actor. The international press quickly jumps on the story, with reports of an off-set fling almost weekly. On the topic of Behind the scenes shenanigans that occurred on the set of this film, Baz Luhrmann said in a fan q&a forum board in 2004: “I suppose the true backstage story of 'Moulin Rouge' needs to wait until enough time has passed so that the 'story behind making the story' can truly be told.”

2001 - NICOLE AND TC DIVORCE

Nicole officially called it quits with Tom Cruise and the two separate, it becomes one of the most talked about and highly publicized divorces in Hollywood. Tom is said to have quoted his infamous ‘Nicole knows what she did’ statement at that time, and the popular leaving the office meme was born not very long after this mess. TC himself accused a number of actors like Russell Crowe and Iain Glen of allegedly having an affair with Nicole. These claims were also dismissed, and alongside this were reports of TC himself already having had a fling with Penelope Cruz on the set of Vanilla Sky, though the actress denied this aswell and claimed that the two only started going out right after his divorce from Nicole.

APRIL 2001 - EWAN DENIES AFFAIR RUMOURS Ewan tells The Detroit Free Press, and through his agent:  "I didn't have an affair with Nicole Kidman. It had nothing to do with me. I had no idea anything was wrong with the marriage. No idea. And I haven't spoken to her since, so I don't know anything about it."

MAY 2001 - MOULIN ROUGE PRESSTOUR BEGINS

From The Daily Mail: 

Moulin Rouge premieres at Cannes.Nicole and Ewan are spotted sharing cigarettes at a press conference, and later holding hands on the Croisette. High on positive buzz during the festival, Ewan tells the paper, "I call Nicole skanky pants. Don't ask me why. She is so beautiful and gorgeous that I just associate it with her - Nicole, knickers, skanky pants!" And then,* of course, Director Baz Luhrmann said that they did not have an affair, 'but it was very close'

Nicole: We had a laugh. He [Ewan] said to me here [Cannes], 'I hope you know we're having an affair.'...He's a great buddy. We're affectionate. We hold hands. We kissed, for God's sake.

From Elle Magazine: 

'People ask if anything happened between Nicole and Ewan, ' says Baz Luhrmann when asked about it straight. I say, only in the natural romance that comes from doing the scenes. And it was very romantic to do those scenes.

THAT ONE FAMOUS INTERVIEW FROM THE PRESSTOUR

MORE CANNES FILM FEST FOOTAGE

From a 2001 gossip news report: 

EWAN McGREGOR's wife EVE has had an extreme emotional reaction to reports of an affair between her husband and his MOULIN ROUGE (2001) co- star NICOLE

KIDMAN - she can't stop laughing. French-born set designer Eve, 35, has never had any worries about her marriage, and finds the suggestion that her actor spouse would ever cheat on her "hilarious"-in fact, she says the rumours brightened up her trip to the CANNES FILM FESTIVAL in May (01).

The trusting spouse, who is expecting Ewan's second child in October (01), says, "I can't usually read the papers, but I did in Cannes. I got a text message from a friend. It said, 'I have read all the papers. I am so sorry. 'I was like, sorry for what? I thought it was funny. It was so mad. I mean, I am going to start worrying that Ewan has had an affair with Nicole Kidman?"

From another gossip report that month: 

NICOLE KIDMAN and EWAN McGREGOR couldn't keep their hands off each other before the premiere of their film MOULIN ROUGE (2001) at the CANNES FILM FESTIVAL yesterday (9 MAY 01). Ewan and Nicole held hands, giggled, whispered to each other and shared a cigarette before the film was shown.  Earlier today, Kidman told how much she adored McGregor's singing in the movie, claiming she had developed a "deep emotional admiration" for him because of it. She told reporters: "I found it much easier to play the love on screen through song, because it extends the emotion. It lets you get lost in it particularly when Ewan sang Elton John's Your Song, I must have heard it 600 times but every time he did it, it still evoked an immediate emotional adoration of him."

With Ewan, it was kind of unusual, because it was - you know, he'd give me goose bumps (laughs). And I was nervous to kiss him!" So was he a good kisser? "Excellent! Yeah, he could make you blush. I mean, I blush in the film, and I'd be embarrassed to dance in front of him sometimes. I mean, I really kind of cared what he would think." But there's no doubr she had a real fondness for McGregor, a man she describes as "divine" and "gorgeous" and whom she says possesses "the warmest heart". (From: Empire Magazine) AUGUST 2001 - ELLE MAGAZINE SHOOT

From Elle Magazine (Ewan on the filming experience):

The emotional depths you have to go to, the way Baz pushes you its all heartfelt. It's exposing. It's quite naked what I'm doing on screen. it's so kind of innocent and truthful, and it costs to put that out, I guess. Also the rehearsals and shooting took nine months. That's a long time... you lose sight of friends, family; you lose the plot.'

People ask if anything happened between Nicole and Ewan, says Baz Luhrmann when asked about it straight. 'I say, only in the natural romance that comes from doing the scenes. And it was very romantic to do those scenes.

OCTOBER 2001 - INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL PARKINSON

DECEMBER 2001 - Exiting the backdoor of a restaurant at LA together

She’s divorced Tom Cruise and has been spotted flirting with Ewan McGregor....There she was, at a table in the corner of Orso’s restaurant in Beverly Hills, having lunch with Ewan McGregor. You could almost feel the heat; they were all over each other, giggling and fizzing in each other’s company. Ewan was only in LA for one day but by the looks of it he was spending it all with Nicole Kidman. And they seemed incandescent together. To observers, the obvious conclusion was that their spectacular on-screen love story had spilled over into real life. There were certainly many rumours at the time, but then there always are when a couple has that kind of cinematic chemistry. And the fact that Moulin Rouge wrapped some time ago yet they were together now, looking really happy about it, could simply be the sign of a serious friendship. Who knows whether their infectious talk and smiles were an ending or a beginning? The most striking thing about seeing them together is that they both make each other look gorgeous.

Just a day before knowing the new success of the film they star, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor went out to eat together. They met at the Ivy restaurant in Beverly Hills, then went to Orso, another of the best-known venues in the movie mecca, from which they sneaked out through the back door. There is no doubt that both actors, who have recognized on more than one occasion the good atmosphere that prevailed during the filming, have become good friends.

FROM AN UNKNOWN INTERVIEW EXTRACT:

2002 - THE GOLDEN GLOBES

Ewan crashes Nicole's red carpet interview

Nicole wins the Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical award, and thanks Ewan in her speech: 

There is another man that I would never have done this film without and that is Ewan McGregor. He's so special, a magnificent person, a magnificent actor and he just makes you better being in the scene with you. So work with him.

FEBRUARY 14 2002 - 22nd Awards of the London Film Critics' Circle at the Dorchester Hotel in London

VIDEO FOOTAGE 

In an interview with Larry King:

What was it like working with Nicole Kidman?

MCGREGOR: A nightmare. Very, very difficult everyday. No, no, fantastic.

Fantastic. I mean, I had met Nicole only once before at a premier, you know, where they kind of - they ask you to stand next to another actor and you -- for your photograph. And then in the magazines it looks like you're great friends. So we had met only once in a situation like that. And then we met in Australia and had lunch with Baz and he -- he kind of -- he loves to talk about it. He told us all his expectations and hopes and what were going to - what we were to try to achieve with the film.

And then we were taken to this room and there was a pianist and a piano and we were given sheet music and we were singing to each other moments later. So you kind of - we had to throw ourselves into it, you know. And we kind of came up with this little pact to just allow each other to be as inhibited as possible, you know. Because we had all this great stuff to do. And we got on really well. She's such a laugh, you know.

KING: Yes, she is.

MCGREGOR: People wouldn't be aware that she's actually a very funny girl, you know.

From an Undated interview: Nicole: Ewan was great about all the stuff they wrote. He could have just stayed away from me, but we said F*** em, we're good friends, and no one is going to take that away from us. So he stood by my side at all the premieres, etc. I really appreciated that. He's very protective of me. He is a lovely guy, as is his wife. We were great buddies on set, we'd walk around holding hands and stuff. It was so different from when I did Far and Away with Tom, because when your speaking dialogue into someone's eyes, its very romantic, but when you sing into someones eyes its so easy to completely lose yourself in that person and get carried away.

Nicole on how to set up a kiss on screen: So much of that is how you capture it. Baz Luhrmann has a particular way of setting up a kiss. On Moulin Rouge, he was extremely precise. I remember when Ewan McGregor and I were first rehearsing. I was like, "That felt really good."

MTV MOVIE AWARDS

VIDEO FOOTAGE (TIMESTAMP 37:45 ONWARDS) 

[UNKNOWN DATE - EWAN LASHING OUT A REPORTER WHEN BEING ASKED WHAT EVE THOUGHT OF ALL THE SPECULATION AND TALK THAT HE HAD AN AFFAIR]