Nicole Kidman
Biography
Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She lived in the United States
until she was four, when her family moved to Australia. Her father, Tony
Kidman, was researching breast cancer in Washington, D.C. and at one
stage, a lecturer at the University of Technology, Sydney. She started
taking ballet lessons when she was three and studied at St. Martin’s
Youth Theater, Australian theater for Young People, and Philip Street
Theater. Nicole’s father had her and her younger sister do push ups and
jumping jacks in the morning, to keep them fit.
She started her acting career at 14, when she starred in Bush Christmas.
The movie is still often played at Christmas time. Nicole dropped out of
North Sydney High School when her mother got breast cancer. When her
mother recovered, Nicole continued with her acting career. Throughout
the 1980s she appeared in many Australian movies and TV series, notably
including BMX Bandits, and the miniseries Bangkok Hilton.
Nicole gained notice in the US with Dead Calm, which lead to her
American debut in Days of Thunder, a stock-car racing movie opposite Tom
Cruise. Although Cruise was married to actress Mimi Rogers at the time,
he and Kidman became an item. Cruise divorced Rogers and the couple
married on Christmas Eve of 1990 in Telluride, Colorado. The wedding was
a secret at the time. She was in Billy Bathgate with Bruce Willis and
Dustin Hoffman and in 1992 she was in Ron Howard’s Far and Away. She
starred in Batman Forever, and then in The Portrait of a Lady. They
adopted two children, Isabella and Connor, and lived in Los Angeles,
California, Australia, Colorado, and New York. They starred in Eyes Wide
Shut in 1999 – the last film by Stanley Kubrick – and in 1998 Nicole was
one of the three witches in Practical Magic.
In February 2001, Cruise stunned Hollywood by filing for divorce; the
reasons are still murky. Cruise would only say that Nicole “knows why”,
while Kidman let it be known that she was pregnant by Cruise when he
left her just before their 10th wedding anniversay, and had just
miscarried the child. Some speculated that Cruise left Kidman because he
didn’t think he was the father, while some questioned the timing, noting
that, since the couple did not have a prenuptial agreement, Cruise would
have had to pay Kidman many millions if they divorced past the 10 year
mark. As it was, he reportedly paid her $65 million. Industry insiders
commented that the primary cause of the divorce may have been Nicole’s
refusal to allow Isabella and Connor to be raised in Scientology, which
Cruise is a devoted practitioner of; she wanted them to be raised
Catholic instead.
Kidman’s most professionally successful year was 2001, with her
Oscar-nominated performance in Moulin Rouge and well-received star turn
in a horror film, The Others. While in Australia filming Moulin Rouge,
Kidman injured her knee, so Jodie Foster had to replace her in Panic
Room. She won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Actress for her
performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours.
As a singer, she began her career in 2001 by collaborating with Ewan
McGregor on the song Come What May, on the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack (the
song debuted and peaked at #27 on the UK Singles Chart). Then 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 #1 for three weeks in the UK, also becoming the UK
Christmas #1 Single for 2001).
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,
Kidman was booed at the premiere of her movie Birth in which the 37
year-old actress’ character falls in love with a 10 year-old boy. Scores
of people walked out of the theater during a scene where the actress and
boy shared a bath together. Despite the poor reception, the film was
nominated for the prestigious Golden Lion Award.
Emma’s War, Alexander The Great, The Interpreter, The Producers and
Bewitched are future movies for Kidman.
Kidman’s sister Antonia is an entertainment reporter for an Australian
television program.
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.
Нашли опечатку? Выделите и нажмите CTRL+Enter
