Nicole Kidman

Coordinates	34°5′24″N74°47′24″N
Caption	Kidman in April 2010
Birth date	June 20, 1967
Birth place	Honululu, Hawaii, United States
Birth name	Nicole Mary Kidman
Occupation	Actress, Spokes model
Years active	1983–present
Spouse	Tom Cruise (1990–2001) Keith Urban (2006–present)
Website	http://www.nicolekidmanofficial.com/

Nicole Mary Kidman, AC (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian actress, Spokes model, and humanitarian.

After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm. Her performances in films such as To Die For (1995), Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Rabbit Hole (2010) received critical acclaim, and her performance in The Hours (2002) brought her an Academy Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award. Her other films include the box office hits Days of Thunder (1990), Batman Forever (1995), The Others (2001), Cold Mountain (2003), The Interpreter (2005) and Australia (2008).

Kidman has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNIFEM since 2006. In 2003, Kidman received her star on the Walk of Fame. In 2006, Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honour, and was also the highest-paid actress in the motion picture industry.

She also is known for her 11-year marriage to Tom Cruise, with whom she adopted two children, and her current marriage to country musician Keith Urban, with whom she has a biological daughter, Sunday Rose.

As a result of being born to Australian parents in Hawaii, Kidman has dual citizenship in Australia and the United States.

Early life

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. At the time of Kidman's birth in 1967, 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. Kidman is of Irish descent through her great-great-great grandparents, James and Bridget Callachor, settled in Sydney in 1842.

Kidman attended Lane Cove Public School and North Sydney Girls' High School. In 1984, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, which caused Nicole to temporarily halt her education and help provide for the family by working as a massage therapist at age 17. She studied at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, and at the Phillip Street Theatre in Sydney, with Naomi Watts. This was followed by attending the Australian Theatre for Young People.

Career

Early career in Australia (1983–89)

Kidman's first appearance in film came as a teenager in the Pat Wilson music video for the song "Bop Girl". By the end of 1983, 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). She also made multiple guest appearances on Australian television programs and TV movies.

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 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."

Breakthrough in American cinema (1990–94)

In 1990 she appeared opposite Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder, playing a young doctor who falls in love with a racecar driver. This was Kidman's American debut and was among the highest-grossing films of the year. That same year she auditioned for the role of Molly in the blockbuster film Ghost but lost the role to Demi Moore.

In 1991 she co-starred with Naomi Watts in the independent film Flirting, and received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Billy Bathgate opposite Dustin Hoffman. She and Cruise re-teamed for Ron Howard's Irish epic Far and Away (1992), which was a modest critical and commercial success.

In 1993 she starred opposite Michael Keaton in My Life and Alec Baldwin in the thriller Malice, which also featured Gwyneth Paltrow, Bill Pullman, and Anne Bancroft. During an interview, Kidman revealed she refused to screen test for the role of Jenny in Forrest Gump (1994), a part that went to Robin Wright Penn.

International success (1995–present)

In 1995 Kidman played Dr. Chase Meridian in Batman Forever opposite Val Kilmer and Jim Carrey. The movie was a blockbuster, and became the second-highest grossing film of the year. As of 2010, it also is the highest-grossing film in which she has appeared. Kidman's second film in 1995, To Die For, was a satirical comedy that earned her critical praise. For her portrayal of the murderous newscaster Suzanne Stone Maretto, she won a Golden Globe Award and five other best actress awards.

Kidman continued to star in many films such as The Portrait of a Lady (1996) and The Peacemaker (1997) opposite George Clooney. In 1998, she appeared in the film Practical Magic alongside Sandra Bullock, and starred in the stage play The Blue Room, which opened in London. In 1999, Kidman and Cruise portrayed a married couple in Eyes Wide Shut, the final film of Stanley Kubrick. The film opened to generally positive reviews but was subject to censorship controversies due to the explicit nature of its sex scenes.

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 (2003) 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. Kidman's 2004 film Birth 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 in the United States, 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.

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.

On 25 June 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. 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. The film was a box office success worldwide. 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.

Kidman appeared in the 2009 Rob Marshall musical, Nine, portraying the character of Claudia Jenssen. In 2010 she starred with Aaron Eckhart in the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Rabbit Hole, for which she vacated her role in the forthcoming Woody Allen picture, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger.

Also, in 2009, Kidman has been the front face of an international spread Schweppes commercial.

Upcoming projects

TV Guide reported that Kidman will star in The Danish Girl, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name, playing Einar Wegener, the world's first post-op transsexual. She will also produce and star in a film adaptation of the Chris Cleave's novel, Little Bee in association with BBC Films. Filming is projected to begin in late 2010 or early 2011. She has also signed on to the Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy Just Go With It.

She recently lent her voice to a promotional video that Australia will use to support their bid to host the 2018 World Cup. The five minute video was broadcast at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

In June 2010 it was announced that Kidman and Clive Owen will star in an HBO film about Ernest Hemingway and his relationship with Martha Gellhorn entitled Hemingway & Gellhorn. James Gandolfini will serve as executive producer to the film written by Barbara Turner and Jerry Stahl. The film will be directed by Philip Kaufman and reportedly will begin shooting in 2011. She will also star alongside Nicolas Cage and reunite with Batman Forever director, Joel Schumacher for the action-thriller Trespass. Cage and Kidman star as a married couple that are taken hostage on the project expected to begin production in August 2010.

On 17 September 2010, it was announced that she will return to Broadway next year to portray Alexandra Del Lago in David Cromer's revival of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth. Scott Rudin will produce the play.

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 #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 sang in Rob Marshall's movie musical Nine, alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Marion Cotillard and Fergie.

Personal life

Kidman has been married twice, previously to Tom Cruise, and now to Keith Urban. She met actor Tom Cruise in December 1989 on the set of their 1990 movie, Days of Thunder. 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.

Prior to marrying Cruise, Kidman had a relationship with fellow Australian Marcus Graham in the 1980s. 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 with Adrien Brody. She met musician Lenny Kravitz in 2003 and dated him into 2004.

Kidman met her second husband, country singer Keith Urban at G'Day LA, an event honouring Australians in January 2005. They married on 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. The couple's daughter, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, was born on 7 July 2008, in Nashville, Tennessee. Kidman's father said the daughter's middle name was after Urban's late grandmother, Rose.

Kidman mentioned in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres in 2005 that she is banned from doing one of her favourite hobbies – sky diving – whilst shooting a movie.

In January 2005 Kidman won interim restraining orders against two Sydney paparazzi who were stalking her.

In the beginning of 2009 Kidman appeared in a series of special edition postage stamps featuring some of Australia's best 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.

Religious and political views

Kidman is a practising Roman Catholic. She attended Mary Mackillop Chapel in North Sydney. During her marriage to Cruise, she had been an occasional practitioner of Scientology. She has been reluctant to discuss Scientology since her divorce.

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

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 Australia Day 2006 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.

Kidman was appointed Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in January 2006. Her efforts are geared towards raising awareness on the infringement of women’s human rights around the world, with a particular focus on putting a spotlight on violence against women. In this capacity, Kidman has addressed international audiences at UN events, raised widespread awareness through the media and testified before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs to support the International Violence against Women Act. Kidman visited Kosovo in 2006 to learn first-hand about women’s experiences of conflict and UNIFEM’s efforts to support them. She is the international spokesperson for UNIFEM’s Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women initiative. As part of Say NO, she has called for more resources and actions to end violence against women, and worked to raise awareness through the media. Kidman and the UNIFEM Executive Director presented over five million signatures collected during the first phase of Say NO to the UN Secretary-General on 25 November 2008.

On 8 January 2010, Kidman attended alongside Nancy Pelosi, Joan Chen and Joe Torre the ceremony to help Family Violence Prevention Fund break ground on a new international center located in the Presidio of San Francisco intended to combat violence against women and children.

Filmography

Kidman's movies gross total is more than $2 billion (US) with 17 movies making more than $100 million. {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ Feature films and television |- ! Year ! Title ! class="unsortable" |Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- | 1983 | BMX Bandits | Judy | |- | 1983 | Bush Christmas | Helen | |- | 1983 | Five Mile Creek | Annie | TV series |- | 1983 | Skin Deep | Sheena Henderson | TV movie |- | 1983 | Chase Through the Night | Petra | TV movie |- | 1984 | Matthew and Son | Bridget Elliot | TV movie |- | 1984 | The Wacky World of Wills & Burke | Julia Matthews | |- | 1984 | | Simone Jenkins | TV series, 2 episodes (4x43-44) |- | 1985 | Archer's Adventure | Catherine | TV movie |- | 1985 | Winners | Carol Trig | TV series – episode 1 |- | 1986 | Windrider | Jade | |- | 1987 | Watch the Shadows Dance | Amy Gabriel | |- | 1987 | | Mary McAllister | |- |1987 | Room to Move | Carol Trig | TV miniseries |- | 1987 | | Jill | TV movie |- | 1987 | Vietnam | Megan Goddard | TV mini-series |- | 1988 | Emerald City | Helen | |- | 1989 | Dead Calm | Rae Ingram | |- | 1989 | Bangkok Hilton | Katrina Stanton | TV mini-series |- | 1990 | Days of Thunder | Dr. Claire Lewicki | |- | 1991 | Flirting | Nicola | |- | 1991 | Billy Bathgate | Drew Preston | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture |- | 1992 | Far and Away | Shannon Christie | |- | 1993 | Malice | Tracy Kennsinger | |- | 1993 | My Life | Gail Jones | |- | 1995 | To Die For | Suzanne Stone Maretto | Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | 1995 | Batman Forever | Dr. Chase Meridian | |- | 1996 | | Isabel Archer | |- | 1996 | Shine | Woman in bar | uncredited cameo |- | 1996 | | Academy Awards Presenter | |- | 1997 | | Dr. Julia Kelly | |- | 1998 | Practical Magic | Gillian Owens | |- | 1999 | Eyes Wide Shut | Alice Harford | |- | 2001 | Moulin Rouge! | Satine | Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | 2001 | | Grace Stewart | Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role However, due to film commitments and her wedding to Urban, it was 13 April 2007 that she was presented with the honour. It was presented by Governor-General of Australia, Major General Michael Jeffery in a ceremony at Government House, Canberra.

Discography

"Come What May" single (Duet with Ewan McGregor – October 2001) AUS #10, UK #27

"Sparkling Diamonds" (with Caroline O'Connor) – October 2001 (Moulin Rouge! soundtrack)

"Hindi Sad Diamonds" -October 2001 (Moulin Rouge! soundtrack)

"Somethin' Stupid" single (Duet with Robbie Williams – December 2001) AUS #8, UK #1l

"Kiss" / "Heartbreak Hotel" – Nicole Kidman / Hugh Jackman – November 2006 (Happy Feet soundtrack)

References

Additional reading

External links

Nicole Kidman's charity work

Category:Actors from Hawaii Category:American people of Australian descent Category:Australian child actors Category:Australian female singers Category:Australian film actors Category:Australian Roman Catholics Category:Australian people of Irish descent Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Australian television actors Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Companions of the Order of Australia

Category:People from Honolulu, Hawaii Category:People from Sydney Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:Former Scientologists

Category:Saturn Award winners