Inside Tom Cruise and Salma Hayek's Years-Long Friendship, from Ask the Dust to the Eras Tour

The pair first worked together in 2006 and have been spotted out several times in the years since

Tom Cruise, Salma Hayek
From Left: Tom Cruise and Salma Hayek in London on July 16, 2022. Photo:

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Tom Cruise and Salma Hayek are old pals!

To celebrate the Top Gun star’s 62nd birthday on Wednesday, July 3, Hayek posted a sweet shot of the two of them dressed to the nines at Victoria Beckham’s birthday party earlier this year.

But Hayek and Cruise have known each other for years, first working together on the 2006 film Ask the Dust. The movie — which stars Hayek, 57, alongside fellow Hollywood A-listers Colin Farrell, Donald Sutherland and Idina Menzel — was produced by Cruise and released in between his more well-known roles in War of the Worlds and Mission: Impossible III

After their collaboration, Cruise and Hayek clearly stayed in touch, becoming semi-regular dinner partners over the next two decades.

Francois Henri Pinault, Salma Hayek, Tom Cruise, Mark Anthony
From Left: Marc Anthony, Nadia Ferreira, Tom Cruise, Salma Hayek and François-Henri Pinault.

Salma Hayek/Instagram

In February 2015, the actors turned heads when they were spotted out to dinner in London alongside Cruise’s ex, Penélope Cruz — specifically because he donned a bright-red lipstick stain on his cheek as he stepped out of the restaurant. (Hayek and Cruz, 50, also go way back, starring together in the 2006 film Bandidas.)

Fast forward to July 2022, and Cruise was again spotted out to dinner with Hayek, this time joined by the Frida actress’s husband, François-Henri Pinault.

Tom Cruise, Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz dine out together
Tom Cruise in London on Feb. 11, 2015.

FameFlynet.uk.com / SplashNews.com

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In between bites, the stars even made time to take photos with fans — footage of which Hayek posted on her Instagram with the caption, “When you take your friend Tom out to dinner.”

But that wouldn’t be the last time Cruise would hear from Pinault, whose investment company, Artémis, acquired a majority stake in Creative Artists — the talent agency that represents Cruise among other big names — for a reported $7 billion in September 2023, per the Los Angeles Times.

Salma Hayek, Tom Cruise.
From Left: Tom Cruise and Salma Hayek.

Salma Hayek/Instagram

Most recently, Cruise and Hayek rubbed shoulders at Taylor Swift’s global smash Eras Tour during a London show in June. The two stars were both spotted in the VIP tent among throngs of other celebrities in attendance at Wembley Stadium.

And clearly Hayek wanted to keep the good vibes going, sending warm birthday wishes to her fellow actor on social media.

"Happy birthday dear @tomcruise 🥳🥳🥳," she wrote alongside a photo of the pair posted to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday.

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