Nicole Kidman bares sexy back for new photoshoot

Nicole Kidman has dared to bare her back for a racy photoshoot with famed fashion photographer Mario Testino.

The 45-year-old Australian star appears in a short black skirt, embellished with a gold belt and nothing else on the cover of V Magazine.

In the photo, Kidman turns her back to the camera and keeps her arms folded over her bare chest to protect her modesty.

"Beautiful, beautiful," an enthusiastic Testino raved to his new muse as he snapped the images at his Manhattan studio.

"You are so hot it is beyond! Look at your body! It is incredible!" News.com.au quoted him as saying.

Other photos show Kidman sprawled out on the ground in lingerie, draped in a red fur coat, with bedhead blonde hair.

The actress revealed more than just her fit figure, admitting that she finds it hard to balance work and family, and doesn't plan her career too carefully.

"I don't really make decisions. I go with the flow," she told the magazine.

"If I were a strategically minded person, I think I would have a far different career. But I would be more outlandish if I could. A lot of times you just don't get the chance," she said.

Kidman, who has two young children with country singer husband Keith Urban, admitted it's hard to tear herself away from her family for work.

"I just don't want to miss anything, and I don't want them to go 'Where's my mom?' So I'm working through that," she added.

Nicole Kidman to receive special honour at New York Film Festival

Karachi: The Oscar-winning Actress, Nicole Kidman is set to be honoured with a gala tribute during the 50th Annual New York Film Festival on October 3rd, the Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced.

Kidman will be the festival's first honoree at an Alice Tully Hall event that will include an onstage conversation as well as a screening of Lee Daniels' “The Paperboy.”

The film “The Paperboy” has also been scheduled to the festival's slate. It is directed by Lee Daniels and stars Kidman, Zac Efron, John Cusack and Matthew McConaughey.

Program Director Richard Pena, who will also be feted during the 17-day event, says, “Nicole Kidman is one of film's finest contemporary actresses. Since her breakthrough performance in To Die For and her bold and provocative appearances in Lars Von Trier's Dogville, Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, as well as her awarding-winning portrayal of Virginia Woolf in Stephen Daldry's The Hours, Kidman has insisted on finding roles that are complex, bold and demanding.”

“We are excited to honor her with a tribute at the New York Film Festival,” Pena further added.

Kidman will be honoured with gala tribute on October 3rd, with the Pena event following on October 10th. The festival continues September 28th through October 14th.

Tables Turned on Tom: Katie Holmes Shocks Him Like He Surprised Nicole Kidman

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

For Tom Cruise, the shoe is finally on the other foot.

Cruise's publicist said the actor was "deeply saddened" by Katie Holmes' divorce filing this week, and a source close to the "Rock of Ages" star told ABC News that Holmes' decision came as a "complete surprise."

33 The Magic Number For Cruise?

Curiously all of Cruise's marriages ended when his ex-wives were 33 years old.

The previous times Cruise has gotten divorced, he was in control. He filed for divorce from actress Mimi Rogers in January 1990 after three years of marriage. She seemed to get over it quickly. In October 1990, she told the Associated Press, "As far as I know, we're divorced, but I've been so busy on this new film that I haven't had time to check, so I'm not sure. I bet that sounds pretty silly, huh?"

Later on, she seemed to loathe the fact that she was ever married to the mega movie star.

''[I'm] waiting for the moment when I don't have to talk about that [blankety-blank] name anymore," she told People magazine in 1995.

Cruise filed for divorce from his second wife, Nicole Kidman, in February 2001 after she miscarried their baby (they had previously adopted two children). He dropped the bomb less than two months after they renewed their vows on their 10-year anniversary, Christmas Eve 2000.

Kidman broke down on Oprah Winfrey's talk show in May 2001, calling the situation a "nightmare."

"I think that divorce is hard for anyone. It's a nightmare, it just is, and you can pretend you're fine," she said. "And days you're great [and] days you're not great."

In a written response to a divorce petition filed by Cruise on the grounds of irreconcilable differences, Kidman said she was stunned when he told her that he no longer wanted to be married, and allegedly begged him to stay and seek marriage counseling. He refused and left for good, according to her response.

When asked by Winfrey whether she thought she would always be married, Kidman timidly replied, "Yeah."

"I've had a blessed life," she said. "I've always thought [if] something bad is going to happen, something bad is going to happen. But then something really bad happened. A number of really bad things happened. You go, 'I'm dealing with it. I'm stronger than I thought.'"

Kidman is now happily married to country singer Keith Urban. They have two children together.

Given how adoringly Cruise has spoken about Holmes throughout their relationship -- he told the May issue of Playboy, "I'm just happy, and I have been since the moment I met her" -- he may take a while to get back to his eccentric, couch-jumping self. But the last time this happened, his first ex-wife voiced her confidence in Mr. Mission Impossible's ability to rebound.

"Tom is very strong -- he handles stress," Rogers told People magazine in 2001. "He's human. He has a temper. He blows up sometimes, whatever, but it's not like he can't deal with it."


By SHEILA MARIKAR (@SheilaYM)