Profile of Nicole Kidman on Famous Like Me

Nicole Mary Kidman (born June 20, 1967) is an Academy Award-winning American-Australian actress, producer and singer. She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Dr. Antony David Kidman and Janelle Ann (nee MacNeille), who were of Scottish and Irish descent. At the time, her father was a cancer research specialist in Washington, D.C. The family returned to Australia when Nicole was four years old, when Tony Kidman took on a lectureship at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Biography

Early life and career

Kidman started taking ballet lessons when she was three, and this led to studies at St. Martin's Youth Theatre in Melbourne, the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney, and then at the Philip Street Theatre, where she majored in voice production and theatre history. 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. During the 1980s she appeared in several Australian movies and TV series, notably including the soap opera A Country Practice, the mini-series Vietnam (1986), Emerald City (1988), and Bangkok Hilton (1989). In 1989 she appeared in the successful thriller Dead Calm as Rae, the wife of naval officer John Ingram (Sam Neill), held captive on a Pacific yacht trip by the psychotic Hughie Warriner (Billy Zane). The role gained her considerable notice in the United States.

Marriage to Tom Cruise

Her American debut was in Days of Thunder (1990), a stock-car racing movie, in which she played opposite Tom Cruise. Although Cruise was married to actress Mimi Rogers at the time, he and Kidman began an affair. Cruise divorced Rogers and the couple married on Christmas Eve of 1990 in Telluride, Colorado. They adopted two children, Isabella and Connor, and lived in Los Angeles, California, Australia, Colorado, and New York.

After ten years, the marriage was dissolved in 2001: there was much media speculation about the reasons for this, but both celebrities maintained their privacy and were guarded in their public comments. One persistent rumour claims however that Kidman's desire to bring up their children Catholic, and her critical views on Scientology caused problems in her marriage with Tom Cruise, who is an outspoken follower of the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard.

Hollywood career

After Days of Thunder, Kidman starred with Cruise in Ron Howard's Far and Away (1992).

1995 was to bring much success. Kidman featured in the all-star cast of Batman Forever and later that same year starred in To Die For, a satirical comedy that earned her high praise from critics, and talk of an Academy Award nomination for her performance, although this did not materialize. She did, however, win a Golden Globe award, and five other best actress awards for her comic portrayal of the murderous newscaster Suzanne Stone Maretto.

Kidman and Cruise portrayed a married couple in Eyes Wide Shut in 1999, Stanley Kubrick's final film. It was the third time she had co-starred with Tom Cruise.

Kidman's most professionally successful year thus far is 2001, with her Oscar-nominated performance in Moulin Rouge! and 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 Panic Room. The following year Kidman came back to win the same praise from critics for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for this role. In the same year she took a hand at production for the film In the Cut.

In 2004, Kidman appeared in the 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 falls in love with a 10-year-old boy (played by Cameron Bright) who attempts to convince her that he is a reincarnation of her dead husband, met with a mixed reception. Despite this, the film was nominated for the prestigious Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival.

Kidman is author Philip Pullman's number-one choice to play Mrs. Coulter in the proposed film version of the first volume of the His Dark Materials trilogy.

Awards

Film awards

Kidman won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours: for the same film she won a BAFTA award. Kidman was nominated in 2002 for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Academy Award winning musical, Moulin Rouge!.

She has also been nominated seven times for a Golden Globe, the first time being in 1992 for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. Kidman won her first of three Golden Globes in 1996 for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Motion Picture for the film To Die For, her second win was in 2002 again for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Motion Picture for Moulin Rouge!, her third win was in 2003 in the Best Actress in a Drama Motion Picture for the film The Hours. She was nominated four consecutive times in the Best Actress in a Drama Motion Picture Golden Globe, in the years 2002-2005, for the following films in chronological order: The Others, The Hours, Cold Mountain, and most recently Birth.

Kidman has won one British Academy Award (BAFTA), it was for her performance in The Hours. She was nominated for the BAFTA two other times, in 2002 and 1996. In 2003, Kidman was given the American Cinematheque Award. She won two MTV Movie Awards in 2002 for Moulin Rouge!. She has been nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards. 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 folowing critics' groups or award giving organizations: Australian Film Institute, Berlin International Film Festival, Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Boston Society of Film Critics, Broadcast Film Critics Association, Empire_Movie_Awards, Golden Satellite Awards, Hollywood Film Festival, Kansas City Film Critics Circle, Las Vegas Film Critics Society, London Critics Circle, Prestige Academy of Motion Pictures & Television, Russian Guild of Film Critics, Seattle International Film Festival, and the Southeastern Film Critics Association.

Charitable work

Kidman publicly supports a variety of charities and causes. She has been a high profile Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF Australia since 1994. She has worked to help raise money for and draw attention to the plight of and the most disadvantaged children in Australia and around the world. In (2004) she was honoured as a "Citizen of the World" by the United Nations. Kidman was selected as the New South Wales Australian of the Year 2005. In 2005 she visited the tsunami-hit regions of SE Asia.

Movies in production

Emma's War, Fur, American Darlings, Wedding Season, and the animated musical Happy Feet are future movies for Kidman. Kidman was cast in The Producers but had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts. She was replaced by Uma Thurman. Eucalyptus would have been Kidman's first native film since Moulin Rouge! but filming was halted after producer Russell Crowe determined that the script needed to be re-written. The current movie starring Kidman out in 2005 is Bewitched, a revamped version of the classic sitcom. She is currently filming the Diane Arbus bio-pic Fur. There is a rumour that Kidman may star in an upcoming yet-to-be titled Baz Luhrmann Australian period film.

Singing

Not known as a singer prior to Moulin Rouge!, 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, debuting and peaking at 8 in the Australian ARIAnet Singles Chart, and at number 1 for three weeks in the UK, also becoming the UK Christmas number 1 Single for 2001. She was reportedly offered a recording contract from a very high-profile record company following the success of Moulin Rouge!, but turned it down, believing that a full-time singing career was not her destined path.

Other notes

• A female shark under GPS observation in South Africa is named after her.
• As Kidman was born in Hawaii, she is an American citizen by birth. She has dual nationality and carries both Australian and U.S. passports.
• Kidman's sister Antonia is an entertainment reporter for an Australian television program, and also has her own very successful parenting program title 'The Little Things' set to be syndicated around the world.
• Kidman is also a well renowned fashion paradigm and a frequent "Best Dressed" staple.
• In August 2004, the Australian magazine BRW listed Kidman as the richest Australian woman under the age of 40, with an estimated worth of 155 million A$ (Australian dollars), or $107 million in United States dollars.
• In January 2005, Kidman won interim restraining orders against two Sydney-based paparazzi photographers.
• Listed 45th Most Powerful Celebrity on the 2005 Forbes Celebrity 100 List. She made a reported $14.5 million in 2004-2005.
• Is known as one of the few A-list actresses who take risks on smaller indie/art films, doing Dogville in 2003 and Birth in 2004.

Filmography

• BMX Bandits (1983)
• Bush Christmas (1983)
• Wills & Burke (1985)
• Archer's Adventure (1985)
• Windrider (1986)
• Watch the Shadows Dance (1987)
• The Bit Part (1987)
• Emerald City (1988)
• Dead Calm (1989)
• Days of Thunder (1990)
• Flirting (1991)
• Billy Bathgate (1991)
• Far and Away (1992)
• Malice (1993)
• My Life (1993)
• To Die For (1995)
• Batman Forever (1995)
• The Leading Man (1996)
• The Portrait of a Lady (1996)
• The Peacemaker (1997)
• Practical Magic (1998)
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
• Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001) (documentary)
• Moulin Rouge! (2001)
• The Others (2001)
• Birthday Girl (2001)

• Panic Room (2002) (voice only)
• The Hours (2002)
• Dogville (2003)
• Dogville Confessions (2003) (documentary)
• The Human Stain (2003)
• Cold Mountain (2003)
• The Stepford Wives (2004)
• Birth (2004)
• The Interpreter (2005)
• Bewitched (2005)
• Fur (2006) (currently in post-production)
• Happy Feet (2006) (voice) (currently filming)
• Invasion (2006) (currently in pre-production)
• The Lady from Shanghai (2006) (currently in pre-production)
• Emma's War (2006) (currently in pre-production)
• American Darlings (2006) (currently in pre-production) (also as executive producer)
• Wedding Season (2006) (announced)
• The Land of The Setting Sun (2007) (announced)

TV Work

• Skin Deep (1983)
• Chase Through the Night (1983)
• Five Mile Creek (1983-1985)
• Matthew and Son (1984)
• Winners (1985) (miniseries)
• Room to Move (1987)
• An Australian in Rome (1987)
• Vietnam (1987) (miniseries)
• Bangkok Hilton (1989) (miniseries)

Discography

• "Come What May" Single (Duet with Ewan McGregor - October 2001) UK #27
• "Somethin' Stupid" Single (Duet with Robbie Williams - December 2001) UK #1

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