Kidman: 'I lived in Cruise's shadow'

Nicole Kidman has confessed that she "cowered in the background" during her marriage to Tom Cruise.

The actress, who recently gave birth to her first child with country singer Keith Urban, said she lived in Cruise's shadow throughout their ten-year union.

"I felt I became a star only by association. I didn't think [my early movies] were very good, which is why I would always cower in the background," she told US Glamour magazine.

"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 to be seen and not heard."

Kidman went on to become a star in her own right after splitting from Cruise, winning an Oscar for her role in The Hours in 2003.