Don't be shy Nicole

She is an elegant Oscar-winning actress, he is a rock star with a wild reputation.

But if opposites attract - as Nicole Kidman and Lenny Kravitz appeared to prove by enjoying an intimate dinner together - why all the shyness?

The pair tried to avoid being seen as they arrived for a midnight meal at the luxury Mercer Hotel in New York's SoHo area.

After an hour inside the hotel's restaurant, they emerged in the early hours and climbed into the same limousine.

Miss Kidman hid behind Kravitz as they left - although, moments later, her shyness was abandoned as she chatted animatedly on her mobile phone.

An onlooker said: 'They make a strange couple. She seems so straight-laced but Lenny looks like a typical rock star.

'They obviously didn't want to be pictured together.'

The 37-year-old Australian star - who has been linked to a string of heart throbs including Robbie Williams, Spiderman star Tobey Maguire and Ewan McGregor - looked casually stylish in grey trousers and a midriff-revealing silk top.

In his usual bohemian style, 39-year-old Kravitz wore a tiedyed shirt, snakeskin boots and beads around his neck.

Despite the lateness of the evening, he also wore his customary sunglasses as he left the restaurant, taking them off only briefly to find his limousine.

Miss Kidman, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours, recently moved into Kravitz's Manhattan home while building work is carried out on her own £4.2million home nearby.

Currently filming The Stepford Wives in New York, she is paying almost £25,000 a month rent for the rocker's apartment.

A spokesman for Miss Kidman said Kravitz was not living at the apartment with her and the pair are just 'old friends'.

However, they have been seen partying at New York nightclub Bungalow 8 and Miss Kidman was escorted by the rocker to one of rapper P Diddy's lavish parties in the city. Kravitz has a 14-year-old daughter, Zoe, with actress Lisa Bonet, to whom he was married for five years. They divorced in 1993. He has also dated Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia.

Miss Kidman has two adopted children with her former husband Tom Cruise.