Inside Tom Cruise’s ‘broken’ relationship with his estranged daughter Suri Cruise

Aside from being a Hollywood megastar, Tom Cruise is also a proud parent.

The Mission Impossible star is a dad to three children; he welcomed his oldest daughters, Isabella in 1992 and Connor in 1995, with his ex-wife Nicole Kidman.

Over a decade later in 2006, Tom and his then-wife Katie Holmes welcomed Suri.

While it's clear that Tom has a strong bond with Isabella and Connor, as both children are active members of his Scientology faith (per The U.S. Sun), the same can't be said for Suri.

But where did it all go wrong? Read on to find out.

When Tom and Katie divorced in 2012, he stated that the Batman actress' desire to keep Suri out of the Scientology faith was a factor in their split as reported by HuffPost.

The last public photos of Tom and Suri being pictured together date back to 2012 when the pair were snapped visiting Disneyland.

Life before Suri was born

Like many expecting parents, Tom was over the moon about the impending arrival of his third child - so much so that he reportedly bought his own ultrasound machine so that he could see her in Katie's stomach every day.

Before Suri's birth, the Top Gun star told Barbara Walters about the purchase, which can cost up to $200,000.

Tom and Katie then welcomed Suri on April 18, 2006. Just a few days after her birth, Tom described the experience as "20/20" and still seemed in awe of everything he witnessed.

He gushed: "It was everything that we wanted it to be. ... It was spiritual. It was powerful. It was indescribable."

Tom and Suri's early relationship

From an outsider's perspective, Tom and his youngest daughter appeared to have a solid parent-child relationship up until 2012.

2012 was a significant year because it was the year that Katie filed for divorce in a move that reportedly surprised the actor.

While speaking to German TV network ProSieben, he admitted that he didn't see the divorce coming at all, admitting: "I didn't expect it," noting: "Life is a tragicomedy. You need to have a sense of humour."

The former couple have never publically disclosed the exact reason behind their divorce.

However, it is believed one of the big reasons Katie filed for a divorce was reportedly to "protect" their daughter, Suri, from his religion, Scientology.

The admission came out during his deposition during a libel lawsuit he filed against a tabloid when Katie was asked if she felt she had to protect Suri by leaving the relationship, as reported by HuffPost.

Tom first replied that the question was "offensive" and that "there is no need to protect my daughter from my religion," before saying: "Did she say that? That was one of the assertions, yes."

Tom was not awarded custody of Suri following the divorce

Following the divorce settlement, Tom was not granted custody of the pair's daughter.

He instead walked away from the discussions with visitation rights only, which stated he could only visit Suri up to 10 days a month, according to Us Weekly.

Despite being allowed to still see Suri, it was reported he didn't make the effort to visit her on his allotted days.

Things only got messier for Tom as in the year after his divorce was finalised he admitted that he hadn't seen his youngest child for at least 100 days, explaining that his prolonged absence was due to his filming schedule.

According to People, Tom affirmed, in a deposition hearing for her lawsuit against Bauer Publishing, that it was "impossible" for him to see Suri during that time, and on top of that, he claimed that the then seven-year-old seemed just fine without him.

After sharing that he's "very good" at talking to his daughter on the phone, the actor pointed out: "I also find that, you know, Suri is a very happy child, and confident, and has a good sense of herself."

How long have Tom and Suri been estranged?

While it's unclear the exact time the father-daughter duo haven't been in contact, it's believed they haven't spoken since she was a child.

Suri, who is now 18, hasn't been publically pictured with her famous dad since 2012 and to make matters worse, Tom doesn't even live in the same state as his daughter.

While Suri lives in New York City with her mum, Tom has reportedly been living in London, England, since April 2021 according to In Touch Weekly.

It is believed Tom didn't visit Suri on her 18th birthday as he was pictured filming scenes for the upcoming instalment of Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part Two in London, while she was spotted out in New York.

It was also reported that Tom missed Suri's graduation.

Their rumoured estrangement was again seemingly confirmed in May this year when a casting sheet revealed she no longer goes by “Suri Cruise” and was instead named as “Suri Noelle.”

She seemingly dropped her famed last name and adopted her mother’s middle name.