Nastassja Kinski applauds sister for speaking out about father's abuse

Actress Nastassja Kinski has applauded her half-sister Pola for going public with allegations their father, celebrated actor Klaus Kinski, sexually assaulted her from the age of five.

The Cat People star tells Germany's Bild magazine she was left "deeply shocked" by the 60-year-old's revelations in a new interview, but she's proud her sister spoke out.

Admitting the news has been "difficult" to process, the actress is quoted as saying, "My sister is a heroine, because she has freed her heart, her soul and also her future from the weight of the secret."

Pola claims she was repeatedly raped by her father between the ages of five and 14, ignoring her protests and turning her into "his little sex object, bedded on a silk cushion."

Pola opens up further about her child abuse hell in upcoming autobiography Kindermund, and reveals she decided to speak out about her abuse because she could no longer stand the adoration of her father's fans.

She explains, "The idolisation has got worse and worse since he died."

Klaus Kinski died of a heart attack in 1991.