Nicole Kidman Reveals Why She Works So Much -- Even If Her Life 'Gets Too Frightening'

For her Women of the Year profile with TIME magazine, the Babygirl star opened up about the public's reaction to her constantly working.

"People go, 'You're a superwoman,'" Kidman told the publication. "I hate it."

Kidman pledged in 2017 to work with a woman director every 18 months, a promise she has not only delivered on but exceeded, partnering as a producer and actor with 19 in film and TV projects over the past eight years.

Of course, she's able to do this because she never stops working, while also admitting to TIME she's had moments she's wanted to quit.

"When there was nothing exciting or relevant coming my way, when there was massive criticism or bullying, when your self-esteem is shattered, when you've been hit with some massive loss or grief and go, 'I don't want to get out of bed. It's too frightening,'" she recalled of those moments of doubt.

The publication spoke with some of Kidman's collaborators for the profile, including Oscar-winning director Jane Campion, Kidman’s longtime friend who cast Kidman in her student film when she was just 14-years-old in Sydney, Australia.

"She's always been a star, and that star has come up and come down, but Nicole knows that in itself is not what makes her happy. What makes her happy is her work," Campion shared.

Kidman added that there is a mentality for women who receive funding for their film that they have to be "perfect" on their first go. "It can be changed,” she said of that perception, adding, "But it can only be changed by actually being in the films of women."

Elsewhere in the interview, the profile noted that Kidman has "found that women behind the camera often offer a support reminiscent of how her sister cared for her in those early days after childbirth," after the actress shared how her sibling, Antonia, was there for her when she needed it.

"I was so terrified, asking, 'What just happened? Where's my milk?'" she said.

"I remember standing naked in the shower, and my sister helped me," added Kidman. "She was my source of strength. She'd had five children -- she had the wisdom to pass on."

Read the full TIME profile here.