Nicole Kidman: 'Cruise split was depressing'

Nicole Kidman has admitted that she was "depressed" after splitting from then-husband Tom Cruise in 2001.

In an interview with Marie Claire, Kidman explained that she was so distraught following the break-up that she considered turning down the starring role in The Hours.

"I was so depressed... I did not want to do it," she said.

The star continued: "So I had to show up in England and I think my inner turmoil was very much a part of the things that [my character] was going through as well."

She later won a 'Best Actress' Oscar for her performance as tortured writer Virginia Woolf in the film.

Kidman and Cruise last appeared together on-screen in the late director Stanley Kubrick's last feature film Eyes Wide Shut, which was filmed during the final year of the couple's marriage.

The actress praised her former spouse's dedication to the project even when he was battling personal turmoil.

"Poor Tom. He worked every single day on that film and that's extraordinary... I remember him just not wanting to let Stanley down and just whatever it was going to take, it was going to take," she explained.

Last week, Kidman insisted that her marriage to Cruise was "filled with love".