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Nicole Mary Kidman, AC (born June 20, 1967) is an Academy Award-winning Hawaiian-born Australian actress, model, singer, UN Citizen of the World award-winning humanitarian, and a UNIFEM and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In 2006, Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honor. In 2006, she was also the highest-paid actress in the motion picture industry.
Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm.
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Quotations
I'm trying to find a man to share my life with, but it's not been easy. I'm a 35-year-old woman with two small children!.
In an interview in early 2004.
It wasn't about, 'Oh I want to make a film where I get to kiss a 10-year-old boy'. To me it was I wanted to make a film where you're trying to understand love.
During the Press Conference at the Venice Film Festival 2004, on the polemical scene from her movie, "Birth"."
I telephoned Lauren and thanked her for saying that. She always calls it like it is and that's a reality check I adore.
At the Venice Film Festival 2004, after co-star Lauren Bacall had said that Kidman was not an acting legend, but rather a beginner.
It would be far easier to go, 'Oh, I wish I loved women,' but I don't. I love the way a man thinks. I love the way a man smells. I love the way men look. And I'm hooked on the male physique--hooked on it.
Playboy magazine, Playboy interview, February 2005.
Encyclopedia
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC (born June 20, 1967) is an Academy Award-winning Hawaiian-born Australian actress, model, singer, UN Citizen of the World award-winning humanitarian, and a UNIFEM and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In 2006, Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honor. In 2006, she was also the highest-paid actress in the motion picture industry.
Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm. Her performances in films such as Days Of Thunder, To Die For (1995), Moulin Rouge! (2001), and The Hours (2002) won her critical acclaim. In 2003, Kidman received her star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California.
She is also known for her marriage to Tom Cruise and her current marriage to country musician Keith Urban. As a result of being born to Australian parents in Hawaii, Kidman has dual citizenship of Australia and the United States.
Early life and family
Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her father, Dr Antony David Kidman, is a biochemist, clinical psychologist and author, with an office in Lane Cove, Sydney, Australia. Her mother, Janelle Ann (née Glenny), is a nursing instructor who edits her husband's books and was a member of the Women's Electoral Lobby. These days Kidman lives in Burwood where she owns a relatively small house. At the time of Kidman's birth, her father was a visiting fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health of the United States. The family returned to Australia when Kidman was four and her parents now live on Sydney's North Shore. Kidman has a younger sister, Antonia Kidman, a journalist. She has known actress Naomi Watts since they were in their teens and the two remain best friends today.
Kidman attended Lane Cove Public School and North Sydney Girls' High School. She studied at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, at the Phillip Street Theatre in Sydney, with Naomi Watts. This was followed by the Australian Theatre for Young People.
Career
Early career in Australia (1983–1989)
Kidman's first appearance in film came in 1983 at 15, in the Pat Wilson music video for the song "Bop Girl". By the end of the year she had a supporting role in the television series Five Mile Creek and four film roles, including BMX Bandits and Bush Christmas. During the 1980s, she appeared in several Australian productions, including the soap opera A Country Practice, the mini-series Vietnam (1986), Emerald City (1988), and Bangkok Hilton (1989).
Breakthrough (1989–1995)
In 1989, Kidman starred in Dead Calm as Rae Ingram, the wife of naval officer John Ingram (Sam Neill), held captive on a Pacific yacht trip by the psychotic Hughie Warriner (Billy Zane). The thriller garnered strong reviews; Variety.com commented: "Throughout the film, Kidman is excellent. She gives the character of Rae real tenacity and energy." Meanwhile, critic Roger Ebert noted the excellent chemistry between the leads, stating, "...Kidman and Zane do generate real, palpable hatred in their scenes together." In 1990, she appeared opposite Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder, a stock car racing movie. Kidman starred with Cruise in Ron Howard's Far and Away (1992). In 1995, Kidman featured in the ensemble cast of Batman Forever. On November 20 1993 she hosted Saturday Night Live.
Critical success (1995–present)
Kidman's second film in 1995, To Die For was a satirical comedy that earned her praise from critics. She won a Golden Globe Award, and five other best actress awards for her portrayal of the murderous newscaster Suzanne Stone Maretto. In 1998, she appeared in the film Practical Magic along side Sandra Bullock. In 1999 Kidman and Cruise portrayed a married couple in Eyes Wide Shut, Stanley Kubrick's final film. The film is memorable for featuring extensive nudity from Kidman, including dream sequences in which she appears topless, nude and having sex, and the opening montage of the film where the audience can watch Kidman slip out of her dress at the end of the night as well as watch her put on her bra in the morning. All of these scenes are notable because of Kidman's high profile and the arousing nature of her nudity.
Also in 1998, Kidman starred in the stage play The Blue Room, which opened in London. The play included Kidman's character briefly exposing her flesh to the audience.
Since 2000
In 2002 Kidman received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 2001 musical film Moulin Rouge!, in which she played the courtesan Satine opposite Ewan McGregor. Consequently, Kidman received her second Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The same year she also had a well-received starring role in the horror film The Others. While in Australia filming Moulin Rouge!, Kidman injured her ribs; as a result, Jodie Foster replaced her as leading actress in the film Panic Room. In that film, Kidman's voice appears on the phone as the mistress of the husband of the lead character.
The following year, Kidman won critical praise for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf
in The Hours, in which the prosthetics applied to her made her almost unrecognisable. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for this role, along with a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and numerous critics awards. Kidman became the first Australian actress to win an Academy Award. During her Academy Award acceptance speech, Kidman made a teary statement about the importance of art, even during times of war: "Why do you come to the Academy Awards when the world is in such turmoil? Because art is important. And because you believe in what you do and you want to honour that, and it is a tradition that needs to be upheld."
In the same year, Kidman starred in three very different films. The first film, Dogville, by Danish director Lars von Trier, was an experimental film set on a bare soundstage. In the second film, she co-starred with Anthony Hopkins in the film adaptation of Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain. The third film, Cold Mountain, a love story of two Southerners separated by the Civil War, garnered her a Golden Globe Award nomination.
In 2004, Kidman appeared in the critically panned remake of The Stepford Wives alongside Glenn Close, Faith Hill and Bette Midler. In September of the same year, Birth, in which the 37-year-old actress' character has an encounter with a 10-year-old boy (played by Cameron Bright) who attempts to convince her that he is a reincarnation of her dead husband, was met with a mixed reception primarily due to a scene where the boy strips and joins Kidman in the bathtub. Despite this, the film was nominated for the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, and Kidman was nominated for another Golden Globe Award.
Kidman's two movies in 2005 were The Interpreter and Bewitched. The Interpreter, directed by Sydney Pollack, received mixed reviews, while Bewitched, co-starring Will Ferrell and based on the 1960s TV sitcom of the same name, was generally panned by critics. Neither film fared well domestically, their box office sales falling well short of the production costs, but both films fared well internationally.
In conjunction with her success in the film industry, Kidman became the face of the Chanel No. 5 perfume brand. She starred in a campaign of television and print ads with Rodrigo Santoro, directed by Moulin Rouge! director Baz Luhrmann to promote the fragrance during the holiday season in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008. The three-minute commercial produced for Chanel No. 5 perfume made Kidman the record holder for the most money paid per minute to an actor after she reportedly earned US$12million for the 3 minute advert. During this time, Kidman was also listed as the 45th Most Powerful Celebrity on the 2005 Forbes Celebrity 100 List. She made a reported US$14.5 million in 2004-2005. On People magazine's list of 2005's highest paid actresses, Kidman was second behind Julia Roberts with a US$16 million to US$17 million per-film price tag. She has since passed Roberts as the highest paid actress.
Recently, Kidman appeared in the Diane Arbus bio-pic Fur. She also lent her voice to the animated film Happy Feet, which quickly garnered critical and commercial success; the film grossed over US$384 million dollars worldwide. In 2007, she starred in the science fiction movie The Invasion directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel where it was reported that she received $26 million dollars for her performance; although it was a critical and commercial failure Kidman said that she has no control over the success of her films. She also played opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jack Black in Noah Baumbach's comedy-drama Margot at the Wedding. She also starred in the film adaptation of the first part of the planned His Dark Materials trilogy of films, playing the villainous Marisa Coulter. However, The Golden Compass's failure to meet expectations at the North American box office has reduced the likelihood of a sequel.
In 2008, she starred Baz Luhrmann's Australian period film titled Australia, which is set in the remote Northern Territory during the Japanese attack on Darwin during World War II. Kidman played opposite Hugh Jackman as an English woman feeling overwhelmed by the continent.
On June 25, 2007, Nintendo announced that Kidman would be the new face of Nintendo's advertising campaign for the Nintendo DS game More Brain Training in its European market.
Kidman was featured in a series of advertisements for Sky in Italy, speaking Italian during the spots.
Kidman was originally set to star in The Reader, a post-war Germany drama, but due to her pregnancy she had to back out of the film. Shortly after the news of Kidman's departure, it was announced that Kate Winslet would take over the role. Winslet went on to win the Oscar for Best Actress for the role - at the ceremony, Kidman was one of the five previous winners who presented her with the award.
On November 10, 2008, TV Guide reported that Kidman will star in the film adaptation of The Danish Girl alongside Charlize Theron. Kidman will play Elinar Wegener, the world's first post-op transsexual.
Singing
Not a singer before Moulin Rouge!, Kidman had well-received vocal performances in the film. Her collaboration with Ewan McGregor on "Come What May" peaked at 27 in the UK Singles Chart. Later she collaborated with Robbie Williams on "Somethin' Stupid", a cover of Williams' swing covers album Swing When You're Winning. It peaked at 8 in the Australian ARIAnet Singles Chart, and at 1 for three weeks in the UK. It was UK Christmas number 1 for 2001.
In 2006, she voiced the animated movie Happy Feet, along with vocals for Norma Jean's 'heartsong', a slightly altered version of "Kiss" by Prince. Kidman is to sing in Rob Marshall's next movie, musical Nine, along with Daniel Day-Lewis, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren and Marion Cotillard.
Personal life
In January 2005, Kidman won interim restraining orders against two Sydney paparazzi.
In the beginning of 2009, Kidman appeared in a series of special edition postage stamps featuring some of Australia's great actors. She, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, and Cate Blanchett each appear twice in the series: once as themselves and once as their Academy Award-winning character.
Relationships
Kidman met Tom Cruise on the set of their 1990 movie, Days of Thunder. Cruise was married to Mimi Rogers and divorced her. Kidman and Cruise were married on Christmas Eve 1990 in Telluride, Colorado. The couple adopted a daughter, Isabella Jane (born 1992), and a son, Connor Anthony (born 1995). They separated just after their 10th wedding anniversary. She was three months pregnant and had a miscarriage. Cruise filed for divorce in February 2001. The marriage was dissolved in 2001, Cruise citing irreconcilable differences. The reasons for dissolution have never been made public. In Marie Claire, Kidman said she had an ectopic pregnancy early in their marriage. In the June 2006 Ladies' Home Journal, she said she still loved Cruise: "He was huge; still is. To me, he was just Tom, but to everybody else, he is huge. But he was lovely to me. And I loved him. I still love him." In addition, she has expressed shock about their divorce.
The 2003 film Cold Mountain brought rumours that an affair between Kidman and co-star Jude Law was responsible for the break-up of his marriage. Both denied the allegations, and Kidman won an undisclosed sum from the British tabloids that published the story. She gave the money to a Romanian orphanage in the town where the movie was filmed. Robbie Williams confirmed they had a short romance on her yacht in summer 2004. Shortly after her Oscar, there were rumours of a relationship between her and Adrien Brody. She met musician Lenny Kravitz in 2003 and dated him into 2004.
Kidman met country singer Keith Urban at G'Day LA, an event honouring Australians in January 2005. Kidman and Urban married on Sunday 25 June 2006, at Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly in Sydney. They maintain homes in Sydney, Sutton Forest, Los Angeles and Nashville, Tennessee. In March 2008, they bought mansions in Los Angeles and Nashville within days.
After speculation by the press, it was confirmed on 8 January 2008 that Kidman was three months pregnant. The couple had their first child, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, on 7 July 2008, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Kidman's father said the daughter's middle name was after Urban's late grandmother, Rose. On Sunday Rose's birthday of 7 July, the Greek Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Kyriaki; "Kyriaki" is Greek for Sunday.
Religion
Kidman is a practicing Catholic. She attended Mary Mackillop Chapel in North Sydney. During her marriage to Cruise, she had been an occasional practitioner of Scientology.
Politics
Kidman's name was in an advertisement in the Los Angeles Times (17 August 2006) that condemned Hamas and Hezbollah and supported Israel in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. Kidman has donated to U.S. Democratic party candidates and endorsed John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.
Charitable work
Kidman has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF Australia since 1994. She has raised money for and drawn attention to the disadvantaged children around the world. In 2004, she was honored as a "Citizen of the World" by the United Nations.
On 26 January 2006 (Australia Day), Kidman received Australia's highest civilian honor when she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. She was also nominated goodwill ambassador for UNIFEM.
Kidman joined the 'Little Tee Campaign' for breast cancer care to design T-shirts or vests to raise money for breast cancer. Kidman's mother had breast cancer in 1984.
Filmography
Kidman's movies gross total is more than US$2 billion, with 17 movies making more than US$100 million.
Awards
In 2003, Kidman received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In addition to those accolades, Kidman has received Best Actress awards from the following critics' groups or award-granting organisations: the Hollywood Foreign Press (Golden Globes), the Australian Film Institute, Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Empire Awards, Golden Satellite Awards, Hollywood Film Festival, London Critics Circle, Russian Guild of Film Critics, and the Southeastern Film Critics Association. In 2003, Kidman was given the American Cinematheque Award. She also received recognition from the National Association of Theatre Owners at the ShoWest Convention in 1992 as the Female Star of Tomorrow and in 2002 for a Distinguished Decade of Achievement in Film.
Government honours
In 2006, Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civilian honour, for "service to the performing arts as an acclaimed motion picture performer, to health care through contributions to improve medical treatment for women and children and advocacy for cancer research, to youth as a principal supporter of young performing artists, and to humanitarian causes in Australia and internationally." However, due to film commitments and her wedding to Urban, it was 13 April 2007 that she was presented with the honor., presented by Governor-General of Australia, Major General Michael Jeffery in a ceremony at Government House, Canberra.
Discography
Additional reading
External links
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