Kidman: Psychiatry Is Worthwhile Field

WASHINGTON – Nicole Kidman (search) says she didn't have to go far to research her role as a psychiatrist for the upcoming movie, "The Visiting."

"I have a father who is a psychologist, so my life has been research," the Oscar-winning actress told AP Radio in a recent interview.

Unlike her ex-husband Tom Cruise, who went on a rant against psychiatry in a "Today" show interview earlier this year, Kidman said she thinks psychiatry is a worthwhile profession that can help people.

"Yeah, of course. I think all sorts of things do in terms of Buddhism, in terms of therapy. I think people choose things that they need that are going to help them. And obviously, I've seen my father do some magnificent work," she said.

In "The Visiting," Kidman is separated from her child, a role that is even more painful, she said, considering the parents who were separated from their children during Hurricane Katrina.

"That's why this reverberated so strongly, because of seeing those images over and over and over again."

Kidman won a best-actress Oscar for her role in 2002's "The Hours."