Queen Nicole Kidman 2024

Jark

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I mean, if Madame has her own appreciation lounge, I think the actual greatest actor of our times deserves at least a virtual chaise lounge. Although she'd probably prefer a wicker chair in a quiet corner of a barn on the ranch or something.

anyway, Nicole is starring in The Undoing on HBO premiering imminently, and she's done a new interview with the New York Times in which she goes quite in-depth talking to David Marchese on her methods, working with Kubrick and Tom on Eyes Wide Shut, and why she took certain roles among other topics - an essential read for any obsessive Kidmanite.

here it is more or less in full for anyone without access (split into two parts because it's SO excessively long)

I love the relationship between a director and an actor. When it’s pure, it’s exquisite. And the other actors, when you’re all there doing the work, it’s exquisite.

Is it more exquisite than life outside acting?
It used to be. Probably changed mid-30s. I started working at 14. I had my first kiss onstage. I was living out my life artistically.

Did you realize at some point that living your life through your work was possibly unhealthy?
I don’t know if it was unhealthy.

But it might raise the question of where you thought real life was happening.
I don’t know. Do you believe in the parallel universes? I’ve just seen “Tenet.” [Laughs.] If there was a choice, I don’t know I would be an actor. But its pull is so powerful that it’s not a choice. But, gosh, what is reality? The idea of not being present for my children and not being here for my loved ones is devastating. And, on my deathbed, the idea of drifting off into another realm is scary. [Laughs.]

When you were talking about your attitude toward your work when you were younger —
The labels and exact timing, that gets too logical. It’s not like, “Right here is when it all changed.” The essence of who you are evolves. You implied, well, life is obviously more important than the work, than artistic life, and I was like, is it? I was being provocative with you. The deepest part of being a human for me is the connections. Because that’s what you’re left with. I was watching Philip Seymour Hoffman [in 'The Master'] the other day, and I went, “Thank you for your work.” I watch different actors and films, it’s gut-wrenchingly beautiful. Watching Pacino in “The Godfather.” Looking at what Kubrick left us to ponder. It makes me cry because it’s an offering that goes beyond a life.

You’ve mentioned Kubrick a couple of times now. It’s obvious that working with him on “Eyes Wide Shut” was important for you. But I’ve been wondering about the total immersion and the personal psychological analysis that he asked of you and Tom Cruise as a couple for that film. At any point, in the middle of that, were you at all like, “This is a weird thing we’re doing”?
No. This is where the fallacy is: We loved working with him. We shot that for two years. We had two kids and were living in a trailer on the lot primarily, making spaghetti because Stanley liked to eat with us sometimes. We were working with the greatest filmmaker and learning about our lives and enjoying our lives on set. We would say, “When is it going to end?” We went over there thinking it was going to be three months. It turned into a year, a year and a half.

But you go, As long as I surrender to what this is, I’m going to have an incredible time. Stanley, he wasn’t torturous. He was arduous in that he would shoot a lot. But I’d sit on the floor of his office and talk, and we’d watch animal videos. He said animals were so much nicer than human beings. Though I do remember we were watching a wildlife thing where you saw the lion going after an antelope, and he could hardly watch it. Interesting, isn’t it?

You know how in “Eyes Wide Shut” you have that monologue in which your character is talking about infidelity and says to Tom’s character, “I was ready to give up everything”? That speech is all about emasculation and emotional aggression. If you’re acting those scenes with the person to whom you’re married, and doing it as part of this immersive process, can it open up negative feelings that later you maybe wish you hadn’t opened?
That fits the narrative that people came up with, but I definitely didn’t see it like that. We were happily married through that. We would go go-kart racing after those scenes. We’d rent out a place and go racing at 3 in the morning. I don’t know what else to say. Maybe I don’t have the ability to look back and dissect it. Or I’m not willing to.

What satisfaction does acting give you now?
It’s the strangest thing: A lot of people as they get older get more protected and terrified. My desire is to keep throwing myself into things. My parenting, my relationship, my work. I’ll take the pain. I’ll take the joy. Because the feeling makes me go, I’m in life. It’s an enormous gift, this life. My ability to love is so deep. My love for my children and for my mother, who’s 80 years old, and my desire to not lose her. You know, I was at her house last weekend and she pulled out a CD of my father singing. It was like being stabbed in the gut. My mother said, “I can’t listen to it,” and I went, “I can. I have to. I get why you can’t, Mama, but I want to.” Most people would turn it off. I left it on. :disco:

I’ve read you say before that you’re looking for risk in the roles you take. What felt risky about Grace Fraser? I’m not sure if I’ve said "risk". That might have been attributed to me and not come out of my mouth. I’ve pushed myself into places that I don’t find comfortable. I’m interested in philosophy and the human psyche. I’m interested in stoicism. “Risk” feels superficial. It’s more about the stories and the ways in which I get to explore the psychology of who we are as people.

Are you interested in stoicism as a quality in which you’re maybe lacking?
Probably. Stoicism would help me survive. Particularly for me having a mother who’s — I’m dealing right now with a mother who’s struggling. Mortality is very present — and pain. So how do you survive? How do you respond? I have the power to choose how I respond. You’ve reduced me to tears! :(

Hopefully for the right reasons.
Yeah. Yeah. I am dealing with family right now, my life, and that all comes into play.

How did you used to think about balancing trying to do roles that allowed for a range of expression — the kind of roles you do now — with taking less complex roles that, for career reasons, you probably felt compelled to take?
I came from an industry that’s small and was fighting to survive — the Australian film industry. My whole attitude was get out there and work. There’s no chance of being selective because you’ve got to make money. I didn’t come from an affluent family. It was always about being a working actor. Then I got taken under the umbrella of a company called Kennedy Miller. They did a series here on the Vietnam War and the way that impacted Australia. I played a conscientious objector, and that was my beginning of getting to do the things that I’m interested in: dissect a character and have a great arc and work with talented people. Then I fell in love and came to the States. Things were jagged. As I’ve gotten older, I do get to make choices and have some say in my trajectory as an artist. What an extraordinary thing.

I wonder if that answer betrayed some knee-jerk Australian humility. You said you just wanted to work, but I suspect there was always more to it than that.
Now I have some control. There was a period of time when it was hard to even get a role. I’m talking over a decade ago when people were like, [snaps fingers] “That’s the age cutoff.” That’s when I produced “Rabbit Hole.” That was an amazing thing because I’d gotten married and was about to have my baby, and was going, OK, it’s not that satisfying career-wise. It was like a wall had been put around me. Part of the reason so many of us want to produce is because then we can have more say in where we end up.

That age cutoff presumably had something to do with other people’s perceptions about sexual desirability. What does it do to your head — as a person, let alone an actress — to have to face that? There aren’t many jobs where it’s so explicit that you can get dropped for a younger model.
You’re not told it directly. You have to read between the lines. I suppose part of my naïveté is that I didn’t think of it like that. I thought, Oh, people are just sick of you. That’s my Australianism, like you said. But as an actor, being attached to your face and body and the form of it is not going to bode well if you’re looking for a long career where you embody different people.

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There was a period in your career when a big part of your work — at least for audiences — had to do with your daring. Within a relatively short span, you did 'Moulin Rouge!', 'Dogville', 'The Blue Room', 'The Hours' and 'Birth'. Do you still think about the element of surprise for yourself and the audience?
I don’t know. With “Dogville” I wanted to work with Lars von Trier. I loved the idea of something Brechtian on camera. I also loved going to Sweden and living communally almost and making a piece of cinema that way. “The Blue Room” was about coming out of Kubrick’s world and going, How do I work for another filmmaker right now? I can’t. I’ll go to the stage.
“The Hours”: I didn’t want to play Virginia Woolf. I begged to play the Julianne Moore role, and Stephen Daldry went, “No, you’re playing Virginia,” and I’m like, “I’m completely miscast as Virginia Woolf. I can’t do it.” He went, “Yes, you can,” and that was that. When I roll with things, it’s far better. With “Big Little Lies,” Liane Moriarty said, “I’ll let you guys have the book, but you have to play Celeste.” :disco: These things just come.

This is another version of the audience-performer relationship question I asked at the beginning. You’ve done things like that Chanel No. 5 commercial, or 'Grace of Monaco', which play with the idea of celebrity glamour and —
But it’s intuitive. It’s not like I have to say my message. Chanel No. 5 was because I wanted to go and have Karl Lagerfeld dress me and run around. As much as I had a feminist mother, she almost dressed me up like a doll at times. We would scour the flea markets for the most beautiful dresses. I grew up with a love of that. The Chanel ad was fantasy for me.

What I’m trying to do is get you — one of the very few people alive who has embodied the image of the glamorous Hollywood star — to tell me what was interesting about that experience from the inside.
Bringing humanity. Trying to demystify that and make it more human. 'Destroyer' was finding the humanity of the woman. The humanity of the character is where I’m always drawn.

You’ve been deflecting, which is OK.
Do I deflect a lot?

Yeah, you do.
Of course, though. You’ve got me raw.

I’m asking about the idea of Nicole Kidman, and you’re not quite engaging with the question. Every movie star has a role that he or she plays in the public imagination, right?
Can I stop you there? I don’t see myself as a movie star. I see myself as an actor. :D :disco:

But you understand these perceptions exist.
I can put on a dress, but that’s the pomp and ceremony. The truth of it is I see myself as an actor. Baz Luhrmann would always say to me, “Nicole, you’re not the girl next door,” and I’d be like, “But I want to be able to play that!” “No, you’ll never get cast as that.” That I didn’t understand, you know? And Stanley would say to me, “You’re a thoroughbred.” I don’t take to that. Don’t confine me. Let me grow and explore. That’s all I ask.

My question is whether —
It’s the thoroughbred in me going, I’m bucking now.

Let me rephrase it: What insights do you have about what the culture thinks of female movie stars? What can you tell me about that societal role that other people can’t?
It interests me how the latest role you’ve played is usually the way in which you’re going to be perceived. I can see why other people go, “I’m only going to play something that everybody feels sympathy for.” That would be a disservice to the human condition for me because I’m interested in all facets of it. I feel like when these questions come, you’re putting a bridle on me, to use the horse analogy. It’s saying, “We’re going to tame you.” I don’t want that. It’s why I’m bucking you and deflecting you. Please don’t saddle me or bridle me. :disco:

Can we keep going for a little more?
Yeah, you’re quite fun. :D On Zoom it’s the weirdest thing, having not done an interview for six months, talking about the past and films. Just a weird thing.

Let me ask a question that ties into “The Undoing.” It’s also about a very particular aspect of your acting, which resonated for me. Why are you rolling your eyes?
Because I’m Australian. We have a tough time with compliments.

I didn’t say it resonated in a good way.
[Laughs.] Oh, OK! There you go! But we’re probably of that ilk where it’s like, “Shut up. Don’t give yourself so much importance. Get on with it.” That’s what we’re raised with.

On a whim I watched “The Human Stain.”
Oh, why? Ugh. :D

I’m curious about if — or what — you discussed about that part with Philip Roth. In his novel, your character is a bit of a cipher, but you wouldn’t know it from your performance.
We talked more about life because I was with Philip Roth. Going to dinner with Philip Roth, I was always like, “God, tell me,” you know? He was one of the great minds. Difficult but great. He would give me tidbits about the character. I can’t remember. I have a pretty shoddy memory these days.

What did Philip Roth tell you about life?
I remember I would just go, “Why?” He signed me a copy of 'The Human Stain' with “Why not, Nicole?”

Coming from him, that sounds slightly flirtatious.
He hated the question “Why?” And he hated guilt. He said it was a completely narcissistic emotion — and selfish. Didn’t believe in it. Didn’t even believe it was an emotion. I think we fought about that. “I’m Catholic. It definitely exists, Philip.” And he said, “No, it’s selfish and narcissistic.”

Was he charismatic?
Deeply. Powerfully. And angry.

About what?
I think everything. He had a sore back and was angry about that. Very bad back. Did you know him at all?

Only through his books.
Wouldn’t you say he had a lot of anger in him?

Among other things.
Yes. He had a lot of things. He had a lot of pathos, a lot of anxiety, as those great minds do. The same with Stanley. The great minds, they were very challenging. As is Jane Campion, because I always want to put the women in there. You could ask me about Jane.

Why didn't you wind up doing 'In The Cut' with her?
I was developing it with Jane for a number of years with Susanna Moore. I had a bad knee injury. A lot of things I didn’t do because of that injury, and I don’t like to talk about films that you end up not doing. I basically was unable to stand for more than 10 seconds for about a year. I can’t work injured. Jane wanted to make it, so I was so happy when Meg Ryan got that chance. I love when people get chances to do things that you don’t immediately go, That’s perfect. I suppose having Meg step in and do something she’d never had the chance to do was exciting for her. I love all Jane’s films. People like her change the world artistically. I’m incredibly dedicated to them.
I’m about to go and do this thing with Robert Eggers in Ireland. That’s an unusual thing to be doing in a pandemic, but I don’t want to let him down. I believe in his artistry. So will I put myself in a bit of danger? Yeah, I will, to support that. It’s being dedicated to people who are forging art in treacherous times. I’ve dedicated a life to it and I will continue to dedicate my life to it. [Laughs.] Heavy stuff.


I’m sorry if I put you in a sad mood earlier.
It’s not a bad mood. So not a bad mood. You’ve got to remember, I had a conversation late last night that affects me for today. So you get me now in that place. You get my truth. I’m not deflecting you.

I love her willingness to cut the interviewer off and correct him before he's even got his question out :D she strikes me as the kind of woman who's often possibly the smartest person in the room and quite humble about it, but also refuses to dumb herself down to anyone else's standard. Nonetheless she must have felt very comfortable with the interviewer to let him tell her "you're deflecting" - he got some fabulous answers out of her.
 
My favourite SP obviously.

God IMAGINE if she’d done In The Cut :disco: Meg Ryan might still be here with us today.

And working with Robert Eggers next?! :disco: x 1000
 
I'm not a complete LOON for her but she is one of the few Hollywood stars (and she is a STAR however much she resents the tag) whose RESUMÉ I can look at and find both COMMERCIALLY INTERESTING projects, QUITE OUT THERE films and UTTER CAR CRASHES with a frequency that I don't see in her contemporaries :disco:

To Die For, Stoker, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Dogville, Rabbit Hole, Eyes Wide Shut. She CHOOSES her directors WELL.
 
There are times when I'm obsessed with Dogville. I adore her arty phase. I like her in everything she's in really - even though she almost always pays quite cold characters, there's something compelling about her. Certainly 10-15 years ago I would go see anything she was in just because she was in it. As @Peekaboo said, some for the better and some for the worse!
 
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i absolutely love her and that interview pretty much cements why.

The out there stuff is more my thing but I love that she'll throw herself at all sorts and sees what sticks. She's definitely guided by the director more than the material, which probably leads to the bombs where she's not quite right for something. But when it works, it works. Moulin Rouge, To Die For, Birth, Lion, Sacred Deer, Beguiled, Margo At The Wedding are all firm favourite performances.
 
There are times when I'm obsessed with Dogville.
Dogville is just quite fantastic. I presume she had as miserable an experience making it as every other female who works with von Trier bar Charlotte Gainsbourg, but it really works on screen.

She's still alternating between the pay cheque gigs and the arty stuff and I can't really see that changing.

I've seen her twice on stage (in The Blue Room and Photograph 51) and she was quite stunning in both.
 
she is fantastic and i admire her for doing whatever crap she feels like between the work with the greats.

the hours and dogville are two of my favourite films of all time.

my only qualm is that i have been finding her face increasingly distracting.
 
one of my favourite Queen Nic turns is in Rabbit Hole. it seems to be one of hers too. she covers every corner of the emotional spectrum in that one, peeling back as she says the "human condition", and in Aaron Eckhart has an equally capable partner. unlike some of her best work, the film itself is also stunning. I think I'll watch it again this week actually.

I've not seen Dogville yet. Is it actually any good?
 
Dogville is good in an EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE sort of way. You certainly need to be IN THE MOOD because a BARREL OF LAUGHS it ain't, but it's not boring.

Also you get to see a bunch of Hollywood actors* questioning their decision to agree to this film for about 2 and a half hours so there's some FUN in that.

*not our NIC, she goes for it with GUSTO
 
one of my favourite Queen Nic turns is in Rabbit Hole. it seems to be one of hers too. she covers every corner of the emotional spectrum in that one, peeling back as she says the "human condition", and in Aaron Eckhart has an equally capable partner. unlike some of her best work, the film itself is also stunning. I think I'll watch it again this week actually.

I've not seen Dogville yet. Is it actually any good?

dogville is insane. it's very intense, so be prepared.

i quite liked rabbit hole. i thought the story and the acting (including eckhart whom i never really thought much off beforehand) were really moving.
 
The bowling alley scene between Nicole and Dianne Wiest in Rabbit Hole remains AMAZING :(
 
i want more dianne wiest in my life... haven't seen her in ages.

Same!

Last I heard she was saying she couldn’t get any jobs and was having to sell her apartment :(
 
Same!

Last I heard she was saying she couldn’t get any jobs and was having to sell her apartment :(

what! she's one of the finest actresses out there. let's write her a star vehicle, stat!
 
in addition to Nine Perfect Strangers on Hulu, queen Nic is currently filming Alan Sorkin's Lucille Ball drama with Javier Bardam

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...which screams Oscar bait :disco:
 
She’s also got The Northman coming up, from the director of The VVitch and The Lighthouse :disco:

I was getting worried about all this low rent television she’s been doing.
 
this woman is insanely intelligent and this 35 minute Variety interview is so worth watching



the way she goes on a 2 or 3 minute detour/monologue and then wraps it up by making herself giggle is :disco: all the interviewer can offer is "hmmm"! she also constantly interrupts him :D which, well, you would.

her eye/eyelid surgeon is also the best
 
this in-conversation with Chris Rock is peak Nicole :D



"you've been married a couple of times..."
"yeah, my second marriage and MY LAST MARRIAGE" :disco:
(13:20)
 
about to tuck into Being the Ricardos :disco: it ain't Christmas without QUEEN NIC
 
I read that earlier and thought she got a bit too defensive about Wiseman bringing up Tom Cruise when she was talking about falling in love with someone, having kids with them and then realising it wasn't meant to be. It's not like you've married SEVEN other guys Nic! Bit WEIRD.
 
Nic always gives great interview. A PRO.

she was sensational in Being the Ricardos, although the film itself is not all that. lots of promise, but unfortunately Sorkin's direction is pancake flat. stick to screenwriting love.
 
here for her HIGH FASHION era. somebody has to continue Céline Dion's LEGACY!
 
A Nicole Kidman thread WITHOUT mention of her iconic AMC commercial? Obvs we don't have AMC 'theaters' (cinemas) in the UK, but thanks to people (all gays) giving it due reverence on social media it's become a truly global affair



The reaction in a nutshell:
Despite the initial mockery, the commercial took on a cult following, as, over the following months, it began playing before films in AMC movie theaters. On December 13th, 2021, Redditor rpvee[3] reported that when the ad played before a film in theaters, the audience started cheering and the man behind them recited it word for word. Twitter users reported similar experiences in the following months. On February 14th, 2022, Twitter user @iamwesley[4] wrote, "I’ve been to 4 movies in the last 10 days and, at 3 of them, nearly sell-out crowds have recited the Nicole Kidman AMC commercial script like a sing-along" (shown below, left). On February 7th, user @alexwyse[5] wrote, "if you're in an AMC and you don't give Nicole Kidman entrance applause when she steps in that puddle then you hate gays sorry folks I dont make the rules" (shown below, right).


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etc etc
 
A Nicole Kidman thread WITHOUT mention of her iconic AMC commercial? Obvs we don't have AMC 'theaters' (cinemas) in the UK, but thanks to people (all gays) giving it due reverence on social media it's become a truly global affair



The reaction in a nutshell:



bc5.png


13a.png


ccf.png





etc etc

:wownic:
 
There is room for both in my heart

"Somehow heartbreak feels good in a place like this" is the more reflective, older sibling of "I'm a daancer! I love to dance!"
 

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