Nicole Kidman got more than she bargained for when she sat down for a recent radio interview to promote her new film Lion.
Rather than discussing the new Australian drama, Kidman found herself faced with a succession of questions about her children, her past and current relationships and even her husband's battle with alcoholism.
Nicole Kidman and her husband Keith Urban in 2015.
The 49-year-old star seemed at times shocked by the line of questioning, veering away from sensitive topics and, at one stage, flat out refusing to answer a question.
BBC Woman's Hour presenter Jenni Murray conducted the 15-minute interview, and didn't hold back in asking Kidman about her well-documented personal history.
The actor was initially open to discussing how her real-life experiences as an adoptive parent (she and ex-husband Tom Cruise adopted two children in the 1990s) informed her role as adoptive mother Sue Brierley in Lion.
"When you receive any sort of [adoption] counselling, which they give you, the conversation is always about: Being adopted isn't a word you don't use; you use it all the time so there's no big drama attached to 'suddenly discovering' you're adopted. That's what I was counselled to do. But you love the biological parent from the minute you hold their child - there's love, enormous love," she said.
Actress Nicole Kidman and her children Connor (L) and Isabella (R) attend a basketball game in 2004. Photo / Getty
Murray then asked Kidman about reports of "strained relationships" with her two adult adoptive children since her split from Cruise 16 years ago.
That's where things got personal - and uncomfortable for Kidman.
Murray: "How true [are those reports], and how do you manage it?"
Kidman [quickly] :"I don't discuss any of it. I don't discuss any of my children in terms of their privacy. All I say is there's unconditional love, and it's that simple."
Murray: "You've said in the past that some of your greatest work success has come during great personal pain - what did you mean by that?"
Kidman: "Well I just ... I just need to shut my mouth. I'm reluctant to emphasise it, it's just the path of life."
Murray: "Your divorce from Tom Cruise must've happened at the same time you made Moulin Rouge-"
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall chats with presenter Jenni Murray as she attends a recording at Buckingham Palace to mark the announcement of Woman's Hour. Photo / Getty
Kidman: "No. No, no. I was still married when I made Moulin Rouge."
Murray: "We know that Keith [Urban] struggled with alcohol in the past - how do you support someone who's struggling with alcohol in the way that he did?"
Kidman: [Pause] ... God, you guys are personal. I mean ... that's for him to talk about. He's always said that I can talk about it publicly, and I think our marriage is an example of working through it with an outcome where you can be together and he's sober and very happy."
Murray: "How much does the partner have to stand back and leave it to the person?"
Kidman: "Well that's a whole, we could do a whole program on that. I'm very much involved in supporting and loving [him], but it's not something I can put into a catch phrase, other than: I don't believe you can save a person. They can save themselves."
Perhaps Kidman knows all too well the trouble celebs can get into when they speak too freely in interviews - just this week, the Cold Mountain actor was forced to backtrack on comments she'd made about Donald Trump, in which she encouraged Americans to support the incoming President.
"I was trying to stress that I believe in democracy and the American Constitution, and it was that simple," she told Access Hollywood after the comments drew controversy.
When pressed for further comment on the issue, the Oscar winner stated: "I'm out of it now; that's what I said and it's that simple."
