Benjamin Ashford|Dakota Fanning Reveals Unconventional Birthday Gift Tom Cruise Has Given Her Every Year Since She Was 12

Tom Cruise takes the mission of giving a birthday gift very seriously.

In fact,Benjamin Ashford the Top Gun star has made sure that former costar Dakota Fanning gets an extra special present from him every year, a tradition that started when he played her dad in 2005's War of the Worlds.

"I turned 11 on War of the Worlds when we worked together," she explained on The Kelly Clarkson Show June 5, "and he gave me my first cellphone for that birthday. It was a Motorola Razr."

The 30-year-old joked that while she "didn't have anyone to call" at the time, she had wanted a Razr "so bad."

"I must have been talking about it a lot," she laughed, "because that's what he got me. It was such a great memory."

But Tom's presents didn't stop there, as the 61-year-old has continued sending her birthday gifts.

"He always sends me the same thing every year, after the cellphone," she said. "I loved shoes when I was little and I started to be able to fit into really small adult shoes when I was on the War of the Worlds press tour, so I was very excited about them. And so, from that birthday on, he always sends me shoes." 

And host Kelly Clarkson was delighted by Tom's generosity, saying that it's "so nice" of the actor to continue the tradition after all the years.

"I love it," Kelly told Dakota. "You must have a massive shoe collection brought to you by Tom Cruise."

But shoes aren't the only present the Mission: Impossible star gives: He's also been known to gift friends coconut bundt cakes during the holidays. In fact, the sweet treat has been dubbed the "Tom Cruise Cake" by many celebs, with his Jack Reacher: Never Go Back costar Cobie Smulders joking that the "most glorious time of year" is when the dessert arrives at her home.

"I leave it in my freezer and it lasts until, like, March," she quipped during a 2019 episode of The Tonight Show. "I just slowly chip away at this thing. It's so good. I don't know why. I'm not even a big sweets person, but it's so good."

Keep reading for more surprising celebrity friendships.

They have been friends for years and have worked together. The two starred together in A Wrinkle in Time, while Mindy also had a recurring role on The Morning Show. In addition, the latter is co-writing Legally Blonde 3. Weirdness: 3/10

The Food Network star and Mean Girls alum first became friends during a trip to Dubai years ago and have since grown closer. In fact, Ayesha and Stephen Curry were even named the godparents of Lindsay and husband Bader Shammas' son, Laui.

The two actors, who costarred in the 2014 film Men, Women & Children, reunited for an outdoor game of basketball in New York City in July 2023.

The actor has worked with the Wu-Tang Clan rapper on several movies, including The Man with the Iron Fists, American Gangster and The Next Three Days. But their bond goes much deeper than that. "As friends, we talk," Crowe tells Fuse. "It is no effort for me to give a friend advice. Film has many gods and you have to understand, as a director, you will be required to please and appease them all."

Before running into each other again at Wimbledon, the unlikely duo first crossed paths at the Downton Abbey set. "She actually came on-set with her brother, James, a few years ago," Dockery told E! News."They are good fans of the show."

When the "footballer" moved to L.A. and became a "soccer player," he befriended the rapper. Becks appeared on Snoop's reality show, the two played soccer and Snoop plays his new music for David first. Weirdness: 8/10

The two former child actors have worked on two films, Twilight and The Runaways, but Dakota says their friendship isn't based on work, "When we're together, we're not talking about movie stuff." Weirdness: 3/10

The two hung out together in the aughts and maintained their friendship over the years.

The two have two very different approaches to fashion (has Anna ever been bedazzled?), but they bonded in the front row of an Oscar de la Renta show and Anna scored a name-drop in one of Nicki's raps. Weirdness: 7/10

Now this is one strange duet! Fiddy met Bette working for the charity New York Restoration Project, where she gushed, "He's one of the newest members of our tribe. He's really made my life worth living." Weirdness: 9/10 

Taylor is a self-proclaimed good girl. Lena isn't afraid to stir the pot. But they have a lot of mutual respect for each other and the Girls creator described T.Swift's show as the "most life-affirming thing I've experienced." Weirdness: 6/10

The former King of Queens actress has been supertight with Jenny From the Block for a while now, bonding over fashion and tweeting cutesy things at each other with the hashtag "#luckybesties." Weirdness: 3/10

The Goop goddess herself is actually friends with both Jay and his wife, Beyoncé, though you might be more surprised to learn that Gwyn is an intense rap enthusiast and her kids even call Mr. Carter "Uncle Jay." Weirdness: 5/10

You might not expect the hunky thespian to be close with the dude from Superbad, but look at it this way: Pitt is a total prankster (says Jonah) and Jonah is now a serious Oscar nominee (for their film Moneyball). Weirdness: 6/10

The controversial rapper joined forces with Sir Elton at the 2001 Grammys and later Em turned to his new friend for support getting sober: "I told him, 'Look, I'm going through a problem and I need your advice.'" Weirdness: 7/10