Brooke Shields shows up for her friends ― even when the invite is confusing.
The “Blue Lagoon” star was flattered when Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes invited her to their 2006 wedding in Italy, despite the groom’s infamous tirade against Shields’ use of antidepressants only a year prior. But Shields wanted to make sure of one thing before accepting Holmes’ invitation.
“Of course I was gonna say yes to that,” Shields told Entertainment Weekly on Wednesday. “I was like, ‘Yes. I will — as long as I’m not the something old!’ And [Holmes] says, she goes, ‘Oh, will you?’ And I said, ‘What? Bring myself as the something old?’”
Shields, now 58, was referring to the tradition of giving couples “something old, something new, something borrowed or something blue” on their wedding day. The custom, which apparently grew out an Old English rhyme, is meant to bring the newlyweds good luck and happiness.
As it turned out, that’s not what Holmes meant, although her actual request sent Shields on a treasure hunt of sorts.
“She says, ‘No, no, will you get the something old?’” Shields recalled Holmes asking. “And I had to, like, hunt antique places to find the perfect gift to give her ... It was a little compact that you put a ring [in]. It was, like, Victorian and it was really beautiful.”
The wedding saw guests such as Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, and David and Victoria Beckham flock to Odescalchi Castle in the town of Bracciano. Holmes and Cruise ultimately split in 2012.
Holmes filed for divorce amid reports of Cruise’s intense relationship with the Church of Scientology. Cruise’s religious practices had led him to criticize Shields’ postpartum use of antidepressants in 2005.
The “Top Gun” star reportedly told a German TV network in 2013 that he “didn’t expect” Holmes to file for divorce, but that “life is a tragicomedy” and “you need to have a sense of humor.” Holmes moved to New York with their daughter after the split.
“That time was intense,” she told InStyle in 2020. “It was a lot of attention, and I had a little child on top of it. We had some funny moments out and about in public. So many people I didn’t know became my friends and helped us out, and that’s what I love about the city.”