NICOLE KIDMAN takes time out of her hectic life to chat with ET's JULIE MORAN about life, love, the pursuit of happiness, her scary new movie 'The Others' and how her kids help her keep it together!

JULIE MORAN: This movie really got under my skin! Are you a fan of scary movies?

NICOLE KIDMAN: Yeah I am -- I love to be scared! I like to have a strong reaction to a movie. Whether it be I cry, or I laugh -- I like to go in there and get my money's worth.

JULIE: You said that this movie was like blood for you. In what way was it so tough?

NICOLE: Because I'm in every scene, almost every frame of the movie, and I'm having to modulate the whole performance. Playing fear on screen is actually much harder than people probably think. Because to make it believable you have to generate all that energy in your body, and after a while, it's exhausting! I think it also affects you subconsciously in a way. It affects the way you dream ... your whole psyche.

JULIE: Your character Grace is so cold, and so unlike you -- was that hard to shake. She had to be so tightly wound.

NICOLE: Yeah, but I wanted her to have this love for her children. So I was constantly saying to the director that because of the things that happen in the film, you really need to see that it is all generated by a love for her children, an obsessive love, but a love.

JULIE: There is already Oscar buzz out there for you, for two very different films. Do you listen to any of that?

NICOLE: Well, you sort of go, "gosh!" But I've had situations like that before, and it hasn't eventuated into anything so I feel that whatever happens, happens. The work is the thing that speaks for you. I am just proud that I have two really different films in the same year, and that I am really proud of both of them.

JULIE: You really bonded with the kids in this, it seemed to me.

NICOLE: Yes. I loved working with them, because you look at the world through children's eyes. When you have two children, you discover the world again. When you're working with kids, you realize, they don't even understand "action," they don't even understand "take two." Everything has to be taught to them in the beginning, and you are responsible for that. I mean the director, and the actor who is acting with them. I enjoyed that! I enjoyed seeing the whole process of filmmaking through their eyes.

JULIE: TOM (CRUISE) produced this movie, and you are going to see him in Los Angeles. How is that going to be for you?

NICOLE: Well, I am just so pleased that he is supporting the film, and he's going to be there. He was a producer on the movie, and I suppose it's a little strange, but it's the work, isn't it?

JULIE: Yes it is. This has been one of the toughest times in your life, and you handle it with such grace. Where does your strength come from?

NICOLE: Well, there are times when I don't feel that strong. I mean, there are times when I feel really, really weak. I think it is just that when you are a mother, and you have two people who are dependent on you, and look to you to be guided, you have to rise to that occasion. As much as you want to curl up in a ball and hide away from the world, you can't ... you just can't.

JULIE: What would you like people to take away from the experience of seeing this film?

NICOLE: I would like for them to have been really scared! (laughs)

FONTE: ET Online - www.etonline.com