Nicole Kidman On Marriage To Tom Cruise: ‘I Felt I Became A Star Only By Association’

She’s won an Oscar, earned the praise of critics and fans worldwide and can command a hefty fee for appearing in a movie, but Nicole Kidman hasn’t always felt successful.

At just 23, the strawberry blonde Australian married Tom Cruise. But according to a new interview with Glamour magazine, who honored the actress as a Woman of the Year, Nicole felt unworthy of the attention thrust upon her at the time.

“I felt I became a star only by association. I didn’t think [the early movies] were very good, which is why I would always cower in the background,” Nicole told Glamour’s December issue. “I thought, I don’t deserve to be here. We would go to the Oscars and I would think, I’m here to support him. I felt it was my job to put on a beautiful dress and be seen and not heard.”

After almost 10 years of marriage, Nicole and Tom famously split in 2001, and following their breakup, the actress said she threw herself into work to cope.

“I went six years alone,” Nicole revealed. “I’m not saying it’s for everyone, but it’s better to be alone than in a lousy relationship. Work was my escape. I was existing more strongly in my creative world than in my own world.”

These days though, with a happy marriage to husband Keith Urban, and a five-month old baby at home – Sunday Rose — Nicole has put her work on a slow burn. Though she is starring in the upcoming epic film, “Australia,” alongside Hugh Jackman, Nicole is working less and staying home more.

“I’ve given a lot to my work, and I’m not willing to give as much to that any more. At this time in my life, I want to be giving to my relationships. And out of that, whatever work you do prospers because you have more to give,” she said.

And though her husband is often on the road, Nicole said she takes comfort in their child together. After all, Sunday Rose looks just like her man.

“It’s fine by me having a little Keith-ette,” Nicole said. “When he goes away, I can look at her and see him.”

Nicole’s two teenage children with Tom Cruise, Connor and Isabella, both adore their new sister too.

“They’re very adoring of her. They’re used to having a little one around, because of [Katie and Tom’s daughter] Suri. Bella is very maternal,” Nicole said. “Connor would like one of us to have a boy. He wants that boy. Katie?”