orn gin
Her bank balance may be in rude health but NICOLE KIDMAN’s artistic kudos soars when she works with the film world’s freaks and fools. Paul Dale wonders how it
ever came to this.
‘ or years. I‘d been popular in America. F not because of my talent but because I was famous.‘ (‘her said that way back in IUXZ to some back from the LA 'Iimr's. It must have seemed exactly like that for one Nicole Mary Kidman. the gawky redhead with an allergy to sunlight who had somehow allowed her solid child/young adult acting career in the land down under (come on. BMX Bum/its rocks) to give way to a bunch of duds that seemed to have been thrown together by a bunch of coked- up Scientologists at a Tom (‘ruise initiated hoe— down: Days of Thunder. Far and Away. The I’r'rii'i'mukr'r. Batman I‘THY’H'I' for four.
But somewhere amongst the mediocrity. Kidman landed the part of Suzanne Stone Maretto in (ius Van Sant‘s remarkable “)95 small town media satire 7?) Die For. Kidman liked the taste and feel of working with a genuine auteur filmmaker and Maretto remains to this day one of her most frighteningly impressive performances: a woman driven by the very obsession to be what Kidman had already
become (albeit by default): a bona fide star. If
Kidman took anything from her time with Van Sant it was the certain knowledge that working with the Hollywood big guns may improve her bank balance but working with the freaks. little guys. inadmen and unholy fools was where she belonged.
To understand the uniqueness of Kidman’s work ethic. you need to go back. way back. Born in Honolulu in 1967. she was the child of Anthony. a biochemist and clinical psychologist. and Janelle. a nursing instructor. Anthony spent Nicole‘s first three years using up a research grant in Washington I)(‘ before taking the family back to his native Sydney. lirom there. Kidman followed a trajectory of ballet. mime. acting and not being taken very seriously at all. ‘Iiveryone at school wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor except me.’ she recalls. ‘I wanted to devote myself to art. and I was never going to get married. As a child I was obsessed with ballet: I'd even get the neighbour kids dressed up in tutus. .-\nd then when l was 12 I found a mime company working in the streets of Sydney where we lived. I suppose it was through them that I
‘I DON'T NECESSARILY SEEK ROLES THAT EXPOSE ME PHYSICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY, BUT I'M WILLING TO BE EXPOSED'
became interested in acting.‘ But the lady had a secret weapon in her old man. a droll fellow who had a handle on that rarest of things: the truth. 'I like to talk about who I am and what l am experiencing and I expect to be open and free with all parts of my life. My father always believed in telling me the truth. even if it was hard to face. and he would always provide emotional support. He made sure that I never became big—headed.~
From the home to Hollywood. Kidman carried the truth with her and when the role demands. it's there with almost disabling effect. It‘s there in the downturn of a bonneted head in her portrayal of Isabel Archer in Jane ('ampion‘s so- so adaptation of Henry James The l’UI'II‘rl/I iii'ri [xii/y. It‘s there in the few moments of mirror- staring introspection that Stanley Kubrick gave her in the otherwise unwatchable liyiay ll'i'ili' S/iiil. It's there in the moment of realisation in The Others. and it‘s most definitely there all the way through Lars von 'l‘rier‘s brilliant Drier/Ilia And now it’s there in Jonathan Sexy Beast (ila/ei’s Bin/i.
'l‘his peculiar. disturbing and occasionally inspired tale of" .-\nna. a wealthy \c‘yy Yorker whose husband dies while iogging in Central Park. and who is \ isitcd a decade later by a ten— year-old boy who claims to be him. may iust be ls'idinan‘s final declaration that her real passion lies outside the mainstream. It's difficult to imagine any other Western actress of her standing taking on a role as potentially diyisiye ;t\ IIIIN. so what Lll'o\ e IlL'l’ lit the Puff.) ‘I really wanted to e\ploi'e the psyche of this woman and helP Io breathe life into her. .-\lsit. when _\otl I‘l.l.\ a highly strung person you can't fake that. You hay e to go and find that in your psyche and you hay e to become \ei'y highly strung. I don't know any other way to do it though I don't necessarily seek roles that e\pose me physically and psy chologically; they somehow manage to find me. but I am willing to be e\posed.‘
The film has drawn a lot of attention for a naked scene in a bath with the boy. and ls'idinaii has almost got her response down pat by now. "l'here is absolutely no se\iia| attraction between them: the relationship is one of belief and fascination. .-\nd the young ('aiiieron Bright who plays him is able to gi\ e the boy a credible maturity. She desperately wants it to be true that he would be the man she lo\ ed. reincarnated in the guise of a L‘Ililtl. The strength of belief Is a hard one but l also haye yery strong things that driye me.‘
And what drive. Kidman has more projects in the pipeline than the [S corporations hoping to strip Iraq of its natural resources. She‘s already been spending time in .\'ew York working with \Yong Kar-Wai on the remake of Orson Welles 'l'lii' lair/y l'i'imi S/iriiig/iiii which co-slai‘s (ioiig Li. ‘I can't say anything about it or he'd kill me] she insists. And she‘s just finished working on Nora Iiplii‘oitK film of the classic 'I‘Y sci‘ics Br'ti‘fli'llr'r/ \Vlllcll gchs her a chance Io take llfllc out with her family during December and January before shooting liiii'ii/y/iliis iii :\ll\[l';tlltt for director .loccly‘it \Iooi‘liotisc. alongside fellow Antipodean superstars (ieoffrey Rush and Rtisscll ('i'ow'c.
While Kidman can get to grips easily with a mainstream project. she clearly prefers being able to do something smaller. 'I don‘t fear the risk and I feel that you can be holder. The material that seems strange tends to be the stuff I do better in. But making a film is like a boxing match; you have to take the knocks and sometimes you find yourself on the ropes. totally exhatisted emotionally. It's not something I would wish on my children. When the time comes I plan to slowly dwindle away and bring the train to a halt.‘
Birth is at GFT, Glasgow and Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 5 Nov. See review, page 49. Interview conducted by Richard Mowe at the Deauville Film Festival.
e:
I
1 995 To Die For. Dark comedy in which Kidman‘s true acting talent begins to shine.
1 996 Portrait of a Lady. Takes on an ambitious Jane Campion movie — and just about pulls it off.
1997 Co-stars with George Clooney in The Peacemaker. It stiffs. but the pair become friends.
1999 Eyes Wide Shut. Kubrick’s last. as well as the super couple's final film together.
Aug 2001 Div0rces Tom. A personal criSis. but iust the shot in the arm her career needs.
2001 Looking up. Demonstrates her amazing singing abilities in Baz Lurman's brilliant M0u/in Rouge.
2003 Wins her Best Female Oscar for her ponrayal Virginia Woolfe in The Hours.
2003 Stars in Cold Mountain ‘.'.’|ih Jude Law. whose marriage famously ends
during shooting
2004 Remake of The Stepford Wives. Dogw/Ie and Birth. Kidman is at the top of her game.
. ./ THE LIST 15