Mum's no longer the word. Tom Cruise has been mostly silent on his 2012 split from Katie Holmes, but as he tours the world to promote his sci-fi film Oblivion, he's finally opening up a little about how he felt after their much-publicized breakup. In a new interview with German TV network ProSieben, the actor admits he was surprised when Holmes filed for divorce on June 29, five days before his 50th birthday.
"I didn't expect it," he confesses of the end of his five-year marriage to the star, with whom he shares daughter Suri, 6.
Afterward, he says, he "had an unbelievable amount of time to think about it" as he threw himself into his work. The takeaway from all that thinking? "Life is a challenge."
"To be 50 and to have experiences and to think you have a grip on everything, and then it hits you — this is it, what life can do to you," he tells ProSieben. "Life is a tragicomedy. You need to have a sense of humor."
Indeed, now that the initial shock of the divorce has worn off, Cruise is back to his usual cheerful self. Last month, his Rock of Ages director Adam Shankman told Us Weekly that both the actor and his ex-wife are doing well and moving on with their lives.
"They are incredibly happy," Shankman said of the former spouses. "I've just been emailing with [Tom]. He's coming back. He's shooting [All You Need Is Kill] in London and seems as happy as a clam. I know he sees his daughter."
Holmes, meanwhile, has made a new life for herself and Suri in New York City. The 33-year-old actress recently wrapped up a run on Broadway in the play Dead Accounts and has been busy promoting her fashion line, Holmes & Yang, which made its New York Fashion Week debut last September.
