A film historian has claimed that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s marriage ended so soon after the couple finished filming Eyes Wide Shut because the movie caused them to see the problems in their own relationship.

In his new biography of Nicole Kidman, David Thomson claims Nicole heavily identified with her character of Alice in the Stanley Kubrick film.

Thomson claims: “I think she learned from [the film] just what was required in taking charge of yourself. That’s what broke them up.”

“She realised she could be as big as [Tom] if she became as strong and self-centred. He wanted a beautiful, bright, obedient consort. She wanted a teacher. It worked. Then it stopped.”

“I think Eyes Wide Shut was the process that brought it to an end because the characters they played were so close to themselves.”

Eyes Wide Shut was Tom and Nicole’s third film together and the final film directed by Stanley Kubrick before his death in March 1999.