Nicole Kidman on Connor and Isabella's Scientology: 'I respect their beliefs'

Nicole Kidman has no problem talking about peeing on Zac Efron in "The Paperboy" or filming rough sex scenes with John Cusack, but when it comes to matters of off-screen controversy, the Oscar-winning actress clams up.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kidman is asked about that most taboo of topics -- her ex-husband Tom Cruise and the religion that's become synonymous with his name: Scientology.

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"I've chosen not to speak publicly about Scientology," she told the magazine. "I have two children [adopted with Cruise] who are Scientologists -- Connor [the Red Dawn actor is now 17] and Isabella [20] -- and I utterly respect their beliefs."

Kidman, 45, famously split from Cruise, 50, in 2001 after 10 years of marriage. The actress has since admitted that she fell head-over-heels for the Mission Impossible actor largely out of naivety. She was just 23 when the two tied the knot.

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"We were in a bubble," she told DuJour magazine last fall of being married to the actor. "Just the two of us. We became very dependent on one another."

Rumors that the Church had a large hand in the consequential fallout have swirled ever since.

A recent Vanity Fair expose and a book by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lawrence Wright both suggest that it was the Church that actually forced Connor and Isabella to turn against her, but it's a claim that Kidman will neither confirm nor deny.

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"My eye is going to a dress here -- that's how interested I am in this," she said during the Hollywood Reporter interview as a way to avoid the question. (The actress is currently married to country crooner Keith Urban, 45, and the couple have two young daughters together).

One thing the Rabbit Hole actress will talk about, however, is her decision to forgo mainstream blockbusters in favor of tackling more independent films down the line.

"I try to go places I'm terrified of," she said, referring to her latest Sundance horror film "Stoker." "It makes you more compassionate. The journey of life is hard; you're always waiting for the cannonball to come and hit you."

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