Jim Mitchell
Movies

Nicole Kidman's surprising admission about ex-husband Tom Cruise

Nicole Kidman has opened up for the first time about the immense power of her former husband Tom Cruise in Hollywood, and in a rare comment about their relationship, the star spoke of her “love” for him in the revealing interview. 

The Oscar winner said she was reluctant to talk about her first marriage out of respect for her current husband, country singer Keith Urban. (The loved-up pair recently released a video which showed them performing an emotional duet together.)

"Being married to Tom Cruise at 22 is something I'm always reluctant to talk about, because I'm married now to the man who is my great love [Keith Urban], and it almost feels disrespectful," the star told New York Magazine.

Kidman admitted her union with Cruise was first and foremost about love, but the relationship afforded her “protection” from predatory behaviour in Hollywood as a young actress in the industry.

“I got married very young, but it definitely wasn't power for me – it was protection,” she said. “I married for love, but being married to an extremely powerful man kept me from being sexually harassed.”

The star added, "I would work, but I was still very much cocooned. So when I came out of [the marriage] at 32, 33, it's almost like I had to grow up.”

In light of the #MeToo era, and the sexual harassment and abuse that had been rampant in Hollywood for years, Cruise’s immense sway in Tinseltown can be seen in a whole new light. 

That said, the Aussie actress admitted that she’d had her share of “#MeToo moments” throughout her life.

“But do I want to expose them in an article? No. Do they come out in my work? Absolutely. I’m open and raw. I want to have my well of experience and emotion tapped into, used — and I’m not just talking about sexual harassment. I’m talking about loss, death, the full array of life,” said the 51-year-old.

Kidman and Cruise became a power couple after meeting in 1990 as co-stars of Days of Thunder, marrying that same year. They would go on to star together in Far and Away two years later, and in the controversial Eyes Wide Shut in 1999. They adopted two children, Isabella, who is now 25, and son Connor, now 23. The marriage ended in 2001 amid speculation Kidman wanted to have no part in Scientology, of which Cruise is a devoted disciple. 

The actress is set to appear in a movie about the Fox News sexual harassment scandal playing Gretchen Carlson, the former news anchor who was the first woman to file a sexual harassment suit against the now-disgraced Fox News chief Roger Ailes. 

Tags:
Nicole Kidman, tom cruise, Keith Urban, movies, entertainment, celebrity, sexual harassment, Sexual abuse, hollywood, power, marriage, divorce