Nicole Kidman has never enjoyed being in the sunlight let alone the limelight. Her pale skin burned easily so she spent most of her youth in Australia avoiding direct sunlight.

When she married Tom Cruise, she was subjected to the glare of stardom, but nothing compared to the attention she received when they divorced 10 years later in 2001.

THE SUN: Are things less chaotic for you these days or is media attention still a problem?

KIDMAN: It would be difficult for things to be as bad as they were four years ago. It was almost impossible for me to go out in public. It frightened me just to think about it.

THE SUN: How has that changed?

KIDMAN: Other people have helped take the spotlight away from me. I'm grateful for my sake but I'm not pleased they have to go through this sort of thing.

THE SUN: Does that mean you are free to go anywhere you want to?

KIDMAN: No. I said there is less attention. I didn't say there is no attention. But I refuse to get into a state of exclusiveness. I take the children to movies and out to dinners. I try to give them as normal a life as possible.

THE SUN: When you go to a mall, a restaurant or a theatre with your children are you mobbed?

KIDMAN: Not really. It's not the public who are the problem. It's the paparazzi. I'm not as recognizable as many actors because I've played so many different characters. I'm not a personality.

THE SUN: Is this a happy time of your life?

KIDMAN: I've been happier, but I've also been sadder. I see myself as capable of having enormous joy in my life. That gives me a great deal of hope for the future.

THE SUN: Have your disappointments impacted your career in any way?

KIDMAN: They have informed it. If you deal with loneliness in your own life, it feeds into your art just as dealing with joy does.

THE SUN: Do you still believe in love at first sight?

KIDMAN: I don't think I ever believed in love at first sight. I have to get to know a person before I can have feelings for them.


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