Nicole Kidman goes topless in racy photoshoot

Nicole Kidman on the cover of V Magazine. Photo / V Magazine

Nicole Kidman has ditched her usual wholesome image, daring to bare her bottom for the latest issue of V Magazine's Travel Issue.

The Aussie actress has let her role in sexual thriller, The Paperboy, seep from the screen to the spread. She appears topless on the cover wearing just a teeny-tiny, rear baring, black skirt and stilettos. With her tussled bleach-blonde hair and dark kohl eyes, the 45-year-old is looking hotter than ever on the fold-out cover styled by Carlyne Cerf De Dudzeele.

Photographer Mario Testino, who famously captured the late Princess Diana, was reportedly very impressed with the Aussie muse, calling her "beautiful, beautiful. You are so hot it is beyond. Look at your body. It is incredible'', The Daily Telegraph reported.

Other shots in the magazine, out on August 30, show Kidman lying on the ground wearing lingerie, draped in a red fur coat.

Check out more pictures from the shoot here.

Kidman seems to be enjoying promoting a new sexy image. Her latest role in The Paperboy is the sex-crazed Charlotte, a much-older love interest for co-star Zac Efron.

In the film Kidman was required to pee on the young actor's leg to soothe his pain after his character is stung by a jellyfish on the beach.

Director Lee Daniels asked Kidman do it for real during the shoot, and the actress insists she had no problem with the odd request.

"The peeing thing, I didn't think was that weird, because I was in character,'' she told the V Magazine.

"That was for the jellyfish. And for me it said so much about Charlotte. One, she's protecting him. Two, she's tough as nails and no one else is going to pee on this guy.

"All of that made total sense to me. I just went for it and didn't overthink it.''

High School Musical heartthrob, Efron, described working on sex scenes with Kidman as "the highlight of my life".

"It was everything you dreamed of. She was such a lovely person. I pinched myself every day, especially after doing love scenes with Nicole Kidman," he told the television show, Daybreak.

- HERALD ONLINE, AAP