Actress Nicole Kidman, in a recent interview to a leading magazine said that marrying actor Tom Cruise protected her from being sexually harassed in Hollywood.

Nicole was 22 when she married Tom Cruise.

Reportedly, the 51-year-old actress said that she now realises that her then-husband's superstar status protected her from the dark side of Hollywood. The Oscar-winner says that being coupled with the actor gave her a special kind of "protection", discouraging men from sexually harassing her.

"I got married very young, but it definitely wasn't power for me -- it was protection. I married for love, but being married to an extremely powerful man kept me from being sexually harassed. I would work, but I was still very much cocooned."

After the couple split, attitudes towards Kidman changed, she said. "When I came out of it at 32, 33, it's almost like I had to grow up. I'm married now to the man who is my great love, and it almost feels disrespectful," she shared.