Sofia Vergara and Tom Cruise were photographed together the night of the party, and it's clear from the pictures that the two had already formed a close bond. 

Insider reports that fellow actor Will Smith then invited Vergara to a pre-Oscar party which Cruise would be attending, and this further cemented their previously established flirtation. "She was dazzled by Tom's megawatt smile and amused by the blizzard of phone calls, flowers and chocolates that followed their first meeting," wrote author Andrew Morton in his New York Post article titled "Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography" per Insider.

If Vergara was so mesmerized by Cruise, why did they part ways? Apparently Cruise attempted to convert Vergara to Scientology and she refused, as this would go against her own religious beliefs. Even though they didn't prove to be a match made in heaven, the media attention Vergara received during her time with Cruise was enough to pique the interest of an important talent company (per Foreign Policy). Vergara signed an impressive deal with the company which provided her with the stability she had been seeking since moving to America, and the rest is history!