I had to be 'coaxed': Nicole Kidman opens up about Tom Cruise Eyes Wide Shut sex scene

Nicole Kidman has spoken candidly about filming the erotic drama Eyes Wide Shut with her husband at the time Tom Cruise back in 1999.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Oscar winner has revealed that, despite what many people thought, the Stanley Kubrick film did not signify the end of the couple's marriage, which ended in 2001.

"People thought that making the film was the beginning of the end of my marriage, but I don't really think it was," Nicole said.

"Tom and I were close then, and it was very much the three of us. On screen, the husband and wife are at odds, and Stanley wanted to use our marriage as a supposed reality.

"That was Stanley: He used the movie as provocation, pretending it was our sex life — which we weren't oblivious to, but obviously it wasn't us. We both decided to dedicate ourselves to a great filmmaker and artist."

Eyes Wide Shut remains notorious today for its out-there sex scenes (including a masked orgy) and confronting depiction of a crumbling marriage.

The 45-year-old actress, who is now married to Keith Urban and has two daughters with him, confessed that the late Kubrick had to "coax" her into particularly raunchy scenes.

"Stanley had to coax me into some of the sexuality in the film in the beginning, but we shot things that were a lot more extreme that didn't end up in the movie," Nicole said.

"I did feel safe — I never felt it was exploitive or unintelligent. He was very different with women than he was with men. He has daughters, so he was very paternal with me."

Wonder what ended up on the cutting room floor?

Nicole added that Stanley, who died in March 1999 before the film reached cinemas, never told her and Tom what the film was actually about. If you have any ideas, please share below.