Nicole Kidman’s marriage to Tom Cruise stopped her from "being sexually harassed".
The 51-year-old actress – who is now married to Keith Urban – tied the knot with 56-year-old Tom in 1990 and adopted two children, 25-year-old Isabella and 23-year-old Connor, before their split over a decade later in 2001.
And whilst Nicole is "reluctant to talk about" her marriage to the ‘Mission: Impossible’ star because it feels "disrespectful" now she’s married to Keith, she does admit Tom’s status helped to protect her whilst she was a young star in Hollywood.
She said: "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. That said, I got married very young, but it definitely wasn’t power for me – it was protection.
"I married for love, but being married to an extremely powerful man kept me from being sexually harassed. I would work, but I was still very much cocooned. So when I came out of it at 32, 33, it’s almost like I had to grow up."
But despite her protection, the ‘Big Little Lies’ star – who has Sunday, 10, and Faith, seven, with Keith – says she still experienced her "share of #MeToo moments."
Speaking to the October issue of New York magazine, she added: "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. But it has to be by the right people so it’s not abused again."
Nicole Kidman: Being married to Tom Cruise protected me from harassment
