Dakota Fanning reveals the birthday present Tom Cruise gifts her every year

Almost two decades after they worked on a movie together, Dakota Fanning still gets a birthday present every year from Tom Cruise.

And to think, some people are lucky to get so much as a 'happy birthday' from their current co-workers.

Fanning opened up about her birthday tradition with Cruise during a recent appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, where she discussed the milestone of turning 30 in February.

The actor was just six-years-old when she got her first on-screen credit in an episode of ER, and over the years she's starred in a number of major titles including Man on Fire, Uptown Girls, Friends, The Twilight Saga and Ripley.

Her career has seen Fanning work with all sorts of big names, and when she was 10-years-old she began working with Cruise on the 2005 movie War of the Worlds.

Fanning recalled turning 11 while working on the movie and explained that Cruise gave her a gift that would be a milestone in any young person's life.

Fanning turned 11 while filming War of the Worlds. (Paramount Pictures)

She said: "I turned 11 on War of the Worlds when we worked together and he gave me my first cell phone for that birthday. It was a Motorola Razr."

If you're not familiar with one of the coolest phones of the noughties, the Razr was an iconic flip phone.

Fanning admitted she 'didn't have anyone' to call, but she was desperate to get her hands on one of the phones, and Cruise delivered.

The actor described the birthday as a 'great memory', but in the years since the cell phone Cruise has switched to a different birthday gift for his former co-star.

Fanning celebrated her 30th birthday in February. (Roy Rochlin/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)

Fanning explained: "He always sends me the same thing every year, after the cell phone.

"I loved shoes when I was little, and started to be able to fit in to 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."

Clarkson pointed out Fanning must have a 'massive shoe collection', all brought to her by Tom Cruise himself.

If the Top Gun actor has stuck to his tradition every year since her 12th birthday, Fanning must have gained at least 19 pairs of shoes on behalf of the movie star.

Granted, the first few probably don't fit anymore, but it's still an impressive collection nonetheless!