Encyclopedia
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an
Academy Award-winning
actress, and one of
Hollywood's leading actresses. She has also ventured into singing. Kidman holds
dual citizenship as both an
Australian and an
American.
Early life and career
Nicole Kidman was born in
Honolulu,
Hawaii, to Dr Antony David Kidman and Janelle Ann MacNeille, who are of
Scottish and
Irish descent respectively, and were both born in
Australia. At the time, her father was a cancer research specialist in
Washington, D.C. The family returned to Australia when Kidman was four years old, when her father took on a lectureship at the
University of Technology, Sydney. Kidman has a younger sister born in 1970, Antonia. Kidman's parents and sister both reside in Greenwich, a suburb on Sydney's North Shore. Kidman grew up Catholic and was taught by the Sisters of Mercy.
Kidman started taking
ballet lessons when she was four. This led to studies at
Sydney's Australian Theatre for Young People, where she is now Patron, then at the Philip Street Theatre, where she majored in voice production and
theatre history. Living in
Longueville,
New South Wales, she studied at
North Sydney Girls High School, but dropped out when her mother was diagnosed with
breast cancer; Kidman concentrated on her family responsibilities until her mother's recovery.
Her first appearance on film came in 1983 when, as a 15-year-old, she appeared in the Pat Wilson music video for the song "Bop Girl". By the end of the year she had secured a supporting role in the television series
Five Mile Creek and four film roles, including
BMX Bandits and
Bush Christmas is an Australian [i] drama [i] film [i] released in 1983.
...
. During the
1980s she appeared in several Australian movies and TV series, notably including the
soap opera A Country Practice was one of the longest-running Australia [i]n television [i] drama series. ...
, the mini-series
Vietnam ,
Emerald City , and
Bangkok Hilton .
Hollywood career
In 1989 she appeared in the thriller
Dead Calm as Rae, the wife of naval officer John Ingram , held captive on a
Pacific Ocean yacht trip by the psychotic Hughie Warriner . In 1990 she appeared opposite
Tom Cruise in
Days of Thunder, a
stock car racing movie. After this, Kidman starred with Cruise in
Ron Howard's
Far and Away is a drama film [i] directed [i] by Ron Howard [i] and starrin ...
. In 1995 Kidman featured in the ensemble cast of
Batman Forever and later that year starred in
To Die For is a 1995 film [i] written by Buck Henry [i], based on the novel of the same ...
, 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. Kidman and Cruise portrayed a married couple in
Eyes Wide Shut is a feature-length motion picture directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick [i], b ...
in 1999,
Stanley Kubrick's final film.
In 2002 Kidman received an
Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 2001 film
Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 [i] Academy Award [i] winning musical film [i] directed by Baz Luhrmann [i] ...
, in which she played the courtesan Satine opposite
Ewan McGregor. The same year she had a well-received starring role in the horror film
The Others. While in Australia filming
Moulin Rouge!, Kidman injured her knee, so that Jodie Foster had to replace her in the film
Panic Room. 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 unrecognizable. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for this role, along with a
Golden Globe Award, a
BAFTA, and numerous critics awards. In the same year she took a hand at
film production for the film
In the Cut. In 2003, Kidman starred in three very different films.
Dogville is a 2003 [i] movie [i] written and directed [i] by Lars von Trier [i], ...
, by
Danish director
Lars von Trier, an experimental film set on a bare soundstage. Secondly, she co-starred alongside
Anthony Hopkins in the film adaptation of
Philip Roth's novel
The Human Stain is a novel by Philip Roth [i]. ...
. Many critics felt that both Kidman and Hopkins were miscast.
Cold Mountain, a love story of two
Southerners separated by the
Civil War, was her final release that year, and garnered her a Golden Globe Award nomination.
In 2004, Kidman appeared in the critically panned remake of
The Stepford Wives is the name of a 1972 [i] novel by Ira Levin [i], as well as two movie [i]s ...
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 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, directed by
Sydney Pollack, and
Bewitched was an American [i] situation comedy [i] starring actress Elizabeth Montgomery [i] ...
, co-starring
Will Ferrell, based on the
1960s TV sitcom of the same name, which fared abysmally with critics and at the box office.
Personal life
Kidman met
Tom Cruise on the set of their 1990 movie,
Days of Thunder. Cruise was married to actress Mimi Rogers at the time, and he and Kidman began an
affair. Cruise divorced Rogers, and married Kidman on
Christmas Eve 1990 in
Telluride,
Colorado. The couple
adopted two children, daughter Isabella Jane and son Connor Antony , and lived in
Los Angeles, Australia, Colorado, and
New York City. Cruise left Kidman while she was three months
pregnant, just before their 10th wedding anniversary. She subsequently had a miscarriage.. The marriage was dissolved in 2001. The reasons for the dissolution have never been made public.
The 2003 film
Cold Mountain was plagued by rumors that an on-set affair between Kidman and co-star
Jude Law was responsible for the breakup of his marriage. Both vehemently denied the allegations, and Kidman eventually won an undisclosed sum from the British
tabloids that pushed the story. She donated the money to a
Romanian orphanage in the town where the movie was filmed. Shortly after her Oscar win, there were rumours of a relationship between her and fellow Oscar winner Adrian Brody. There was no confimation or denial. She met musician
Lenny Kravitz in 2003 and dated him into 2004.
Kidman met country singer
Keith Urban at a
Hollywood event honouring Australians in January 2005. Kidman and Urban were married on Sunday June 25, 2006, at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in the grounds of St Patrick's Estate,
Manly in
Sydney.
Politics
Kidman took out an advertisement in the
Los Angeles Times that condemned organizations
Hamas and
Hezbollah, and supported
Israel's efforts in the
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. The full-page advertisement was signed by 84 other Hollywood professionals and reads “We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas. If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die. We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs.”
Others that signed include actors
Michael Douglas,
Dennis Hopper,
Sylvester Stallone,
Bruce Willis,
Danny DeVito,
Don Johnson, James Woods,
Kelly Preston,
Patricia Heaton and
William Hurt; directors
Ridley Scott,
Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Richard Donner and
Sam Raimi; as well as tennis player
Serena Williams.
Charitable work
Kidman publicly supports a variety of charities and causes. She has been a Goodwill Ambassador for
UNICEF Australia since 1994. She has worked to help raise money for and draw attention to the plight of the most disadvantaged children in Australia and around the world. In she was honoured as a "Citizen of the World" by the
United Nations.
On January 26, 2006 Kidman received Australia's highest civilian honour when she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, both for her service to performing arts and for her charitable work. 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, Janelle, is a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed in 1984.
Movies in production
Kidman has at least five movies in production over the next two years. She just finished filming the
Diane Arbus bio-pic
Fur, director
Oliver Hirschbiegel's science fiction movie
The Visiting is a 2007 [i] film currently in post-production starring Nicole Kidman [i] ...
and
Noah Baumbach's as-yet-untitled next movie, a comedy-drama. She has also provided her voice for the animated movie Happy Feet. She will also play villainous Mrs. Coulter in the film adaptation of the
His Dark Materials trilogy which starts shooting in September.
She is also set to star in director
Wong Kar-wai's next film,
The Lady from Shanghai and
Baz Luhrmann's yet-to-be titled Australian period film, which has been delayed due to schedule conflicts.
Singing
Not known as a singer prior to
Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 [i] Academy Award [i] winning musical film [i] directed by Baz Luhrmann [i] ...
, Kidman had several well received vocal performances in the film. Her collaboration with
Ewan McGregor on the song "Come What May" from the film's soundtrack debuted and peaked at 27 in the UK Singles Chart. Later she collaborated with
Robbie Williams on the song "Somethin' Stupid", a cover of the old swing song on Williams' swing covers album
Swing When You're Winning is an album [i] of pop standard [i] song covers by English [i] pop ...
. It debuted and peaked at 8 in the
Australian ARIAnet Singles Chart, and at number 1 for three weeks in the UK. It was the UK Christmas number 1 Single for 2001.
Trivia
- In 2003, she won the Fashion Icon Award by the Council of Fashion Designers America .
- Kidman is the current face of the Chanel No. 5 perfume brand. She starred in a campaign of television and print ads directed by Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann to promote the fragrance during the holiday season in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The multi-million-dollar commercial for Chanel No. 5, titled N° 5 the Film, also starred Rodrigo Santoro.
- A female shark under GPS observation in South Africa is named after her.
- In August 2004, the Australian magazine BRW listed Kidman as the richest Australian woman under the age of 40, with an estimated worth of AU$155 million .
- Listed 45th Most Powerful Celebrity on the 2005 Forbes Celebrity 100 List. She made a reported US$14.5 million in 2004-2005.
- Has donated over 25.000 dollars to the U.S Democratic party candidates
- 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.
- In January 2005, Kidman won interim restraining orders against two Sydney-based paparazzi photographers.
- In a 2005 episode of Rove Live Kidman confirmed rumours that she is afraid of butterflies.
- Kidman is an avid supporter of the Sydney Swans
...
Australian rules football club in the
Australian Football League and attends many live matches. Her favourite player is
Barry Hall.
...
told the newspaper that he was inspired to create the character, a piece of skin stretched over a metallic frame, after watching the Oscars.
- The song "BMX Bandits" by pop/rock group Wheatus is about her movie of the same name. The video features a cartoon drawing that resembles her.
- Is a fan of Doctor Who
- Is a fan of professional wrestling, she has told interviewers whenever it was brought up that the two people to blame for that are her good friend Jim Carrey and her son Conor.
- Often declines to use body doubles for nude scenes in films.
Filmography
- BMX Bandits
- Bush Christmas is an Australian [i] drama [i] film [i] released in 1983.
...
- Wills & Burke
- Archer's Adventure
- Windrider
- Bangkok Hilton
- Watch the Shadows Dance
- The Bit Part
- Emerald City
- Dead Calm
- Days of Thunder
- Flirting
- Billy Bathgate
- Far and Away is a drama film [i] directed [i] by Ron Howard [i] and starrin ...
- Malice
- My Life
- To Die For is a 1995 film [i] written by Buck Henry [i], based on the novel of the same ...
- Batman Forever
- The Leading Man
- The Portrait of a Lady
...
- The Peacemaker
- Practical Magic is a 1998 film [i] in which Sandra Bullock [i] and Nicole Kidman [i] st ...
- Eyes Wide Shut is a feature-length motion picture directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick [i], b ...
- Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 [i] Academy Award [i] winning musical film [i] directed by Baz Luhrmann [i] ...
- The Others
- Birthday Girl
- The Hours
- Dogville is a 2003 [i] movie [i] written and directed [i] by Lars von Trier [i], ...
- The Human Stain is a novel by Philip Roth [i]. ...
- Cold Mountain
- The Stepford Wives is the name of a 1972 [i] novel by Ira Levin [i], as well as two movie [i]s ...
- Birth
- The Interpreter
- Bewitched was an American [i] situation comedy [i] starring actress Elizabeth Montgomery [i] ...
Upcoming
- Fur [completed]
- Happy Feet [completed]
- The Visiting is a 2007 [i] film currently in post-production starring Nicole Kidman [i] ...
[completed] - Untitled Noah Baumbach Movie [completed]
- His Dark Materials is a trilogy [i] of novel [i]s by the fantasy fiction [i] author Philip Pullman [i] ...
[filming] - Untitled Baz Luhrmann Project [pre-production]
- The Lady from Shanghai [announced]
- Headhunters [announced]
Television work
- Skin Deep
- Chase Through the Night
- Five Mile Creek
- Matthew and Son
- Winners
- Room to Move
- An Australian in Rome
- Vietnam
- Bangkok Hilton
Discography
- "Come What May" Single UK #27
- "Somethin' Stupid" Single UK #1
Awards
Academy Awards- 2003 - Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Hours
Berlin International Film Festival- 2003 - Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actress for The Hours
Boston Society of Film Critics- 1995 - Best Actress for To Die For is a 1995 film [i] written by Buck Henry [i], based on the novel of the same ...
British Academy of Film and Television Arts:- 2003 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for The Hours
Broadcast Film Critics Association- 1996 - Best Actress for To Die For is a 1995 film [i] written by Buck Henry [i], based on the novel of the same ...
Golden Globe Awards:- 2003 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama for The Hours
- 2002 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 [i] Academy Award [i] winning musical film [i] directed by Baz Luhrmann [i] ...
- 1996 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for To Die For is a 1995 film [i] written by Buck Henry [i], based on the novel of the same ...
Kansas City Film Critics Circle- 2002 - Best Actress for The Others
Las Vegas Film Critics Society- 2003 - Best Actress for The Hours
MTV Movie Awards:- 2002 - Best Female Performance for Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 [i] Academy Award [i] winning musical film [i] directed by Baz Luhrmann [i] ...
- 2002 - Best Musical Sequence for Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 [i] Academy Award [i] winning musical film [i] directed by Baz Luhrmann [i] ...
Prestige Academy of Motion Pictures- 2004 - Best Ensemble Cast Performance for Dogville is a 2003 [i] movie [i] written and directed [i] by Lars von Trier [i], ...
* - 2003 - Best Ensemble Cast Performance for Cold Mountain *
- 2003 - Distinguished Decade in Film
- 2002 - Best Actress for The Hours
- 2001 - Best Actress for Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 [i] Academy Award [i] winning musical film [i] directed by Baz Luhrmann [i] ...
- 2001 - Best Musical Sequence for Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 [i] Academy Award [i] winning musical film [i] directed by Baz Luhrmann [i] ...
- 1995 - Best Actress for To Die For is a 1995 film [i] written by Buck Henry [i], based on the novel of the same ...
Seattle International Film Festival- 1995 - Best Actress for To Die For is a 1995 film [i] written by Buck Henry [i], based on the novel of the same ...
ShoWest Convention- 2002 - Distinguished Decade of Achievement in Film
- 1992 - Female Star of Tomorrow
In 2003, Kidman received her Star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California. In addition to those accolades, Kidman has received Best Actress awards from the following critics' groups or award giving organizations: 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.
Awards nominated for
Academy Awards:Golden Globe Awards:- Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama Birth
- Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama Cold Mountain
- Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama The Others
- Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Billy Bathgate
BAFTA:- Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role The Others
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role To Die For is a 1995 film [i] written by Buck Henry [i], based on the novel of the same ...
Screen Actors Guild:- Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role The Hours
- Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture The Hours
- Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Moulin Rouge
In 2003, Kidman was given the American Cinematheque Award.
References
External links
