Nicole Kidman refused to utter a scripted racial slur in her new erotic thriller The Paperboy because she didn't want to disrespect her adopted African American son Connor.

Director Lee Daniels tried to push the star, who plays prisoner John Cusack's lover in the upcoming movie, into sticking to the script and using the derogatory term "n**ger" as it seemed appropriate for her trashy character.

However, the Oscar winner drew the line and the two became embroiled in a heated argument over her strict stance - and now Kidman reveals it was all to avoid offending her teenage son and his culture.