United Kingdom, May 10 -- Tom Cruise has hailed his ex-wife Nicole Kidman as a "great actress".

The 'Top Gun' actor has recalled how he recommended Nicole - whom he was married to from 1990 until 2001 - to star alongside him as Alice Harford in Stanley Kubrick's 1999 movie 'Eyes Wide Shut' because he felt she had the talent to take on the role.

In an interview with the British Film Institute's (BFI) Sight and Sound magazine, Cruise said of making the flick: "I flew out to his (Kubrick's) house and I landed in his backyard. I read the script the day before and we spent the day taking about it. I knew all of his films.

"Then it was basically he and I getting to know each other. And when we were doing that, I suggested Nicole play the rol...