Marriage to Tom Cruise protected me against sexual abuse: Nicole Kidman

Pic Courtesy: Movie Still

Los Angeles: Actress Nicole Kidman says marrying actor Tom Cruise protected from being sexually harassed in Hollywood. She was just 22 when she wed Cruise.

In an interview with New York magazine, Kidman, 51, has reflected back on that time, saying she now realises that her then-husband's superstar status protected her from the dark side of Hollywood, reports dailymail.co.uk.

The Oscar-winner says that being coupled with the actor gave her a special kind of "protection", discouraging men from sexually harassing her.

"I got married very young, but it definitely wasn't power for me -- it was protection," Kidman explained. 

"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."

After the couple split, attitudes towards Kidman changed, she said. 

"When I came out of it at 32, 33, it's almost like I had to grow up." Kidman rarely talks about her relationship with Cruise, something she said was a deliberate choice made with her current husband Keith Urban in mind.

"I'm married now to the man who is my great love, and it almost feels disrespectful," she said.

Kidman adopted two children with Cruise and had two more with second husband Urban.