Nicole Kidman

Nicole Mary Kidman AC (born June 20, 1967), is an iconic Australian[1] Academy Award winning actress. She is three-time Golden Globe winner for Best Actress. In 2006, she became the highest paid actress in the film industry.[2] That same year, Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civilian honour.[3]After making various appearances in film and television, Kidman received her breakthrough role in the thriller Dead Calm. Since then, Kidman's acting career has developed greatly. Her performances in several films, such as To Die For, Moulin Rouge!, and The Hours, have won her not only critical acclaim but also many film awards. In 2003, Kidman received her Star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California. Kidman is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, a singer and a successful recording artist.She is also well-known for her former marriage to Tom Cruise, as well as her current marriage to singer Keith Urban. Because she was born to Australian parents in Honolulu, Hawaii, Kidman has dual citizenship of Australia and the United States. Nicole Mary Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Janelle Ann MacNeille Kidman and Dr. Anthony David Kidman. Her father is a biochemist and a clinical psychologist in Lane Cove, Sydney and author, who is also heavily involved with the labour movement. Her mother is a nursing instructor and edits her husband's books.[4] At the time Nicole Kidman was born, her father was a Visiting Fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health 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. She attended Lane Cove Public School in her primary years.Kidman has a younger sister, Antonia, born in 1970. Kidman's parents and sister both reside in Greenwich, a suburb on Sydney's North Shore. Kidman, a Catholic,[5] attended Mary Mackillop Chapel in North Sydney with her sister and attended North Sydney Girls' High School, also on the North Shore.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 Phillip Street Theatre, where she majored in voice production and theatre history. Living in Longueville she studied at St Marys, but dropped out when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer; Kidman concentrated on her family responsibilities until her mother's recovery.Early career in Australia (1983–1989) Kidman's first appearance in film came in 1983 when, as a fifteen 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).Breakthrough (1989–1995) In 1989, Kidman starred in the thriller Dead Calm as Rae Ingram, the wife of naval officer John Ingram (Sam Neill), held captive on a Pacific Ocean yacht trip by the psychotic Hughie Warriner (Billy Zane). The horror film received generally positive reviews; the staff of Variety.com commented: "Throughout the film, Kidman is excellent. She gives the character of Rae real tenacity and energy."[6] Meanwhile, critic Roger Ebert noted the excellent chemistry between the leads, stating, "...Kidman and Zane do generate real, palpable hatred in their scenes together."[7] 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 (1992). In 1995, Kidman featured in the ensemble cast of Batman Forever. On November 20, 1993 she hosted Saturday Night Live.[8]Critical success (1995–present) Her second film in 1995, To Die For was 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 in 1999, Stanley Kubrick's final film.In 2002, Kidman received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 2001 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 had a well-received starring role in the horror film The Others. While in Australia filming Moulin Rouge!, Kidman injured her knee; as a result, Jodie Foster had to replace her in the film Panic Room. Instead she was the voice on the phone of the mistress of Jodie Foster's character's husband.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. Kidman became the first Australian actress to win an Academy Award. During her Academy Award acceptance speech, after tearing, Kidman made a 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 honor that, and it is a tradition that needs to be upheld."[9]In the same year, Kidman took a hand at film production in the film In the Cut. In 2003, Kidman starred in three very different films. Dogville, 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. 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 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 (played by Cameron Bright) 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, co-starring Will Ferrell, based on the 1960s TV sitcom of the same name; the latter fared abysmally with critics and at the box office.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, and 2006. 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 $US3.71 million.[10] 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.[11] She has since passed Roberts as the highest paid actress, due in no small part to Roberts's recent devotion to parenting and broadway theatre acting rather than film work.Kidman has at least five movies in production over the next two years. She has completed filming the Diane Arbus bio-pic Fur, director Oliver Hirschbiegel's science fiction movie The Invasion and Noah Baumbach's comedy-drama Margot at the Wedding. She has also provided her voice for the animated movie Happy Feet. She is currently working on the film adaptation of the first part of the His Dark Materials trilogy in which she plays the villainous Mrs. Coulter. She is also set to star in director Wong Kar-wai's next film, The Lady from Shanghai and 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 will play an English woman feeling overwhelmed by the continent, opposite Hugh Jackman.On 25 June, 2007, Nintendo announced that Kidman is to be the new face of Nintendo's advertising campaign for the Nintendo DS game More Brain Training in its European market.[12]It is reported that Kidman will star and produce in an upcoming romantic comedy film called Monte Carlo. She plays one member of a trio of school teachers on holiday who cut short their no-frills sojourn in Paris and head to Monte Carlo, where they pose as wealthy vacationers.[ 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. 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.In 2006, she provided her voice for the animated movie Happy Feet, along with her vocals for her character Norma Jean's 'heartsong', which was a slightly altered version of "Kiss" by Prince.[edit] Personal life[edit] Relationships 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 later divorced her. Kidman and Cruise were married on Christmas Eve 1990 in Telluride, Colorado. The couple adopted two children, daughter Isabella Jane Cruise (b. December 22, 1992) and son Connor Anthony Cruise (b. January 17, 1995), and lived in Los Angeles, Australia, Colorado, and New York City. They separated just before their 10th wedding anniversary. At the time she was 3 months pregnant and subsequently had a miscarriage.[14] The marriage was dissolved in 2001, with Cruise citing irreconcilable differences as the cause of the divorce. Tom Cruise filed for divorce in February 2001. [15] The reasons for the dissolution have never been made public. In an interview in the June 2006 issue of Ladies' Home Journal, Kidman reported that she still loved Tom Cruise. Kidman told the magazine: "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.[15]The 2003 film Cold Mountain was plagued by rumours 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 published the story.[16] She donated the money to a Romanian orphanage in the town where the movie was filmed.[17]. There were also rumours of her and Jim Carrey going out after the two were spotted at restaurants together, but they both denied it explaining they're just the best of friends. [5] Shortly after her Oscar win, there were unconfirmed rumours of a relationship between her and fellow Oscar winner Adrien Brody.[18] She met musician Lenny Kravitz in 2003 and dated him into 2004[19].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. They maintain homes in Sydney and Nashville, Tennessee.[edit] Politics Kidman's name was included in an advertisement in the Los Angeles Times (August 17, 2006) 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 who 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.[20]Kidman has made numerous donations to U.S. Democratic party candidates and endorsed John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.[21][edit] 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 2004, 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, for "service to the performing arts as an acclaimed motion picture performer, to health care through contributions to improve medical treatment for women and children and advocacy for cancer research, to youth as a principal supporter of young performing artists, and to humanitarian causes in Australia and internationally."[22] However, due to film commitments and her wedding to Urban, it wasn't until 13 April 2007 that she was presented with the honour.[23] She was also nominated goodwill ambassador for UNIFEM.[24]Kidman joined the 'Little Tee Campaign' for Breast Cancer Care to design T-shirts or vests to raise money for breast cancer.[25] Kidman's mother, Janelle, is a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed in 1984.[26]In January 2005, Kidman won interim restraining orders against two Sydney-based paparazzi photographers.[27] In 1982 she appeared in the video for Roxy Music's song True To Life.[edit] Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1983 BMX Bandits Judy Bush Christmas Helen Five Mile Creek Annie TV series Skin Deep Sheena Henderson TV movie Chase Through the Night Petra TV movie 1984 Matthew and Son Bridget Elliot TV movie Wills & Burke Julia Matthews 1985 Archer's Adventure Catherine Winners Carol Trig TV series - episode 1 1986 Windrider Jade 1987 Watch the Shadows Dance Amy Gabriel The Bit Part Mary McAllister Room to Move Carol Trig TV miniseries An Australian in Rome Jill TV movie Vietnam Megan Goddard TV miniseries 1988 Emerald City Helen 1989 Dead Calm Rae Ingram Bangkok Hilton Katrina Stanton TV miniseries 1990 Days of Thunder Dr. Claire Lewicki 1991 Flirting Nicola Billy Bathgate Drew Preston Golden Globe nomination - Best Supporting Actress 1992 Far and Away Shannon Christie 1993 Malice Tracy Kennsinger My Life Gail Jones 1995 To Die For Suzanne Stone Maretto BAFTA Award nomination - Best Actress, Golden Globe win - Best Musical/Comedy Actress Batman Forever Dr. Chase Meridian 1996 The Leading Man Academy Awards presenter The Portrait of a Lady Isabel Archer 1997 The Peacemaker Dr. Julia Kelly 1998 Practical Magic Gillian Owens 1999 Eyes Wide Shut Alice Harford 2001 Moulin Rouge! Satine Academy Award nomination - Best Actress, Golden Globe win - Best Musical/Comedy Actress The Others Grace Stewart BAFTA Award nomination - Best Actress, Golden Globe nomination - Best Drama Actress Birthday Girl Sophia/Nadia 2002 The Hours Virginia Woolf Academy Award win - Best Actress, BAFTA Award win - Best Actress, Golden Globe win - Best Drama Actress 2003 Dogville Grace Margaret Mulligan The Human Stain Faunia Farley Cold Mountain Ada Monroe Golden Globe nomination - Best Drama Actress 2004 The Stepford Wives Joanna Eberhart Birth Anna Golden Globe nomination - Best Drama Actress 2005 The Interpreter Silvia Broome Bewitched Isabel Bigelow/Samantha Worst Screen Couple Razzie 2006 Fur Diane Arbus Happy Feet Norma Jean voice 2007 The Invasion Carol Bennell Completed Margot at the Wedding Margot Completed His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass Marisa Coulter post-production 2008 Australia Lady Sarah Ashley Filming Need Pre-production (Starts shooting in October/November)[edit] Discography "Come What May" single (Duet with Ewan McGregor - October 2001) AUS #10, UK #27 "Somethin' Stupid" single (Duet with Robbie Williams - December 2001) AUS #8, UK #1 "Kiss" / "Heartbreak Hotel" - Nicole Kidman / Hugh Jackman - November 2006 (Happy Feet Soundtrack)[edit] Awards Government honours In 2006, Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civilian honour, in recognition of her contribution to the arts and her charity work.[28] The award was presented by Governor-General of Australia, Major General Michael Jeffery in a ceremony at Government House, Canberra on 13 April 2007.[29]Academy Awards2003 - Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Hours Berlin International Film Festival2003 - Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actress for The Hours Boston Society of Film Critics1995 - Best Actress for To Die For British Academy of Film and Television Arts:2003 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for The Hours Broadcast Film Critics Association1996 - Best Actress for To Die For Golden Globe Awards:1996 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for To Die For 2002 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for Moulin Rouge! 2003 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama for The Hours Kansas City Film Critics Circle2002 - Best Actress for The Others Las Vegas Film Critics Society2003 - Best Actress for The Hours MTV Movie Awards:2002 - Best Female Performance for Moulin Rouge! 2002 - Best Musical Sequence for Moulin Rouge! Prestige Academy of Motion Pictures1995 - Best Actress for To Die For 2001 - Best Actress for Moulin Rouge! 2001 - Best Musical Sequence for Moulin Rouge! 2002 - Best Actress for The Hours 2003 - Best Ensemble Cast Performance for Cold Mountain *(shared with the rest of the cast) 2003 - Distinguished Decade in Film 2004 - Best Ensemble Cast Performance for Dogville *(shared with the rest of the cast) Seattle International Film Festival1995 - Best Actress for To Die For ShoWest Convention1992 - Female Star of Tomorrow 2002 - Distinguished Decade of Achievement in Film In 2003, Kidman received a 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. In 2003, Kidman was given the American Cinematheque Award Nominations Academy Awards:Best Actress in a Leading Role Moulin Rouge! (2002) Golden Globe Awards:Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama Birth (2005) Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama Cold Mountain (2004) Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama The Others (2002) Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Billy Bathgate (1992) BAFTA:Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role The Others (2002) Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role To Die For (1996) Goya Awards:Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role The Others (2002) Screen Actors Guild:Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role The Hours (2003) Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture The Hours (2003) Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Moulin Rouge! (2002)