With a very public divorce and rumoured miscarriage behind her, and her new husband Keith Urban just checked into rehab for alcohol addiction, Nicole Kidman is under no illusions that life is a picnic.

She told the New York Daily News: “I don’t think life ever gets easier. I think we all think it’s going to, and you keep hoping for that time when you can say ‘All right, it’s easy now!’ I actually don’t think that ever happens.”

“But I much prefer to stay alive and participate - I choose that, rather than to run away. [But] there have been times when I’ve chosen to curl up in a ball and, I suppose, hibernate until I come out. I’ve got no problem with that.”

“My life … sometimes it feels likes it floats rather than being actually earthed, and at other times I feel like I’m brought down to earth very quickly.”

“I try and be very open to things that come along, to have my eyes and ears open. But that’s a hard place to exist in. It’s quite raw sometimes.”

“But ultimately, I’d rather be like that than closed off. You develop scar tissue. Though it’s a really hard way to live.”