Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman was previously married to Tom Cruise Joe Scarnici/Getty Images

Nicole Kidman has opened up about the nurturing Keith Urban provides. The Beguiled star has said that her husband acts like the "tough" one so she can let her guard down and be "raw" and "sensitive".

Speaking to Glamour magazine, the Oscar-winning actress, who has been married to the musician for 11 years, revealed that Urban does not want her to have a "thick skin" but instead wants her to be less guarded and "curious".

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"Keith always says to me, 'You stay raw and sensitive, and I'll buffer things for you,' which is a beautiful offering," the Big Little Lies star was quoted as saying by Entertainment Tonight.

"He is always told, 'You're so tough,' And he says, 'That's not what I want for you, Nicole. You don't need to get a thick skin'."

"I think for me, it's about having a place that's safe to nurture you, where the tears can be shed," she continued.

"That way I can actually go back open and curious and willing. And at times scarred and a little damaged, but not with a sword like, 'I'm seeking revenge.' Because that just doesn't interest me."

Kidman also said she likes to work with a female director at least every 18 months.

"As an actor, you're only as good as the things you're offered," Kidman said. "And there just weren't any women offering me things. So, when you dissect that, you realize there aren't women offering you things because they don't have the opportunities."

"I work to raise money for women's cancers; I use my voice for violence against women," she continued. "And so I was like, 'I need to be a part of the movement that will, hopefully, change the statistics of the field.'"

She added that she feels the need to get the work done and not just talk about it.

"I also can't be talking about it and not doing it. Because, to be an advocate, you have to actually put things into action," Kidman said. "It's like, 'OK, Rebecca. You're making a movie? Let's go.' 'OK, Karyn Kusama'—I'm working with her next—'we may not have an enormous budget, but let's go do it. I'll get down in the trenches with you.'"

Kidman is set to work with directors Rebecca Miller and Karyn Kusama in She Came To Me and a police thriller, Destroyer, respectively.