Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes to Divorce

Stars divorcing after five years of marriage.

ByABC News
June 29, 2012, 1:26 PM

June 29, 2012 — -- Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting divorced.

"This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family," Holmes' publicist said in a statement. "Katie's primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter's best interest."

"Kate has filed for divorce and Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children," Cruise's publicist said in a statement. "Please allow them their privacy to work this out."

Cruise, 49, and Holmes, 33, married at an Italian castle in November 2006. They have daughter Suri, 6.

Holmes filed for divorce Thursday. A source close to Cruise told ABC News that Holmes' filing came as a "complete surprise," as was her asking for "sole custody" of Suri.

This was Holmes's first marriage and the third for Cruise, who previously was married to the actresses Nicole Kidman, with whom he has two children, and Mimi Rogers.

Holmes and Cruise were often affectionate with each other in public. He famously jumped on the couch of Oprah Winfrey's talk show in 2005, crowing about his love for Holmes. "I love relationships. ... It just happened," he said about their meeting. "I kept looking [at Katie] and thinking, 'This woman's amazing.' I'm happy that I'm with her. She's amazing, and I'd think the same of her even if she wasn't with me. She's just amazing."

Holmes, best known for playing Joey Potter on the '90s TV drama "Dawson's Creek," once told Seventeen magazine that her dream was to marry Tom Cruise. A year before their wedding, in August 2005, the then-26-year-old actress told W magazine, "I've found the man of my dreams.

"From the moment I met him," she said, "it just felt like I'd known him forever. I was blown away. He's the most incredible man. He's so generous and kind, and he helps so many people, and he makes me laugh like I've never laughed, and he's a great friend."

During the interview, a security guard walked in with a present. Holmes tore it open to reveal a Chanel diamond necklace sent by Cruise.

"He's my man! He's my man!" she screamed, jumping on the couch to do an impression of Cruise on "Oprah."

Asked whether she wondered if they were still in the honeymoon phase -- they got engaged after two months of dating -- she said, "Tom and I will always be in our honeymoon phase."

PHOTOS: Tom and Katie Before the Split

Lately, public scrutiny about her marriage and family life seemed to be taking a toll on Holmes.

"It's a constant battle," she told InStyle magazine in 2011. "Whenever I think, oh good, it's calmed down, another false story comes out. I feel like I'm constantly saying, 'No, no, I'm actually this way!' I try not to go on the Internet that much because who needs to hear comments? But I do know what's being said: I am briefed."

Despite their hectic schedules, she told InStyle that she and Cruise always tried to "make it work."

"In our family we have a policy: We make it work," she said. "We Skype, and we try not to go for a week without seeing each other."

For his part, Cruise gushed about Holmes while promoting his latest movie, "Rock of Ages."

"She is an extraordinary person, and if you spent five minutes with her, you'd see it," he told Playboy in May. "Everything she does, she does with this beautiful creativity. She's funny and charming, and when she walks into the room, I just feel better. I'm a romantic. I like doing things like creating romantic dinners, and she enjoys that."

"I'm just happy, and I have been since the moment I met her. What we have is very special," he added.