Please Read Part One of the Interview
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Your House
Nicole Kidman: I am not one of those people that keeps them in the bathroom. I am very proud of them because my daughters see them, and they sort of quite don’t understand what they mean and they are obviously very interested in the arts so they see these awards and they see Keith’s awards as well. But our house, if you had to describe it, I would hope that people describe it as warm and homey. I mean, it’s a bit of a mess at times, and you definitely feel that there is children, and my mom came over the other day and was like there’s too much junk in this house, you have to get rid of some stuff. So I did a quick cull. And I tend to hold onto things because I love to have comfort things around. I love stuffed toys, ridiculous, but my kids still buy me stuffed toys, so I have teddy bears and all sorts of things. So I am always like, we have got to get rid of some of this junk girls, we are going to do a spring clean. But I would say that the house is warm and it smells good, because my husband loves things to smell good. Whenever you walk into the house, it has a very distinct smell of our family.
Fashion: Deciding What to Wear?
NK: Because I was raised by a mother that could sew, from a little girl I was always put into really, I mean she would make my clothes for me and we have photos of me, and we didn’t have a lot of money, so she would go and make them and she would buy the fabric and she would make coats with little collars and my dresses, she would embroider them, and I think that is where my love of that came from. She was also the kind of mother who would say dress up, do your makeup, look good, present well to the world, because that is just how she was raised and it’s where she came from and she sort of established my sister and I on how we think. And then recently I just sort of went, I am going to get back into loving fashion because it’s something that I love to do. I love to dress up and be able to walk down a red carpet and go I am supporting this designer or I am loving the fabric or I am loving the way this thing, it’s artistic for me. And it’s so weird because after Cannes, some people talked about the films, so many people talked about the dresses. And I thought, wow, it’s extraordinary the way the dresses represent some sort of dream I think in terms of people. It’s interesting to me that there is like a connection. And so I went back to see my mom in Australia, and my mom’s friends were like, I like the dress with the tutu, but I didn’t like this, I liked that, and I thought, this is hilarious that people really get invested. And it was actually very touching to me, because it’s also young girls like my niece, and she will go oh I love the silver dress with the fringe. And it’s the dreams of what we do, it’s creating that sort of magic for a small moment and then I go back and I am in Nashville. But to have that magic for a moment in time, I like that, that’s fun. And I shop a lot on line. I am so bad. And I put stuff in the basket, and then I don’t buy it. I am sure there are many people here that have done that.
Net-A-Porter
NK: I shop on Net-A-Porter and now I am blushing, because you go oh I will put that in and that in and then you go back and go, what was I thinking? Too expensive, absolutely not. And you end up getting nothing, or one thing. But it’s a good way to shop on line, especially as a mother, a working mother, except my daughters don’t like when I do it, because they like to go to the story and try shoes on. They hate when I order shoes, because they are like, they never fit properly. So now every time we buy shoes, we have to go to the store. We have to try them on, we have to walk around in them, and then we decide whether we can get them or not. So too much information, but there you go.
No Hair and Make-Up for Cannes Film Fest Video
NK: It was my way, because they called me in the morning and they were like, can you do hair and makeup and record a little something? And I was like hair and makeup? It’s Sunday morning. There’s no hair and makeup here. I am just going to have to record this now, I am meant to be taking my kids out in a couple of hours, so I am not going to cancel what I am doing with them. And I just kind of pulled my hair back and recorded a message. But it was important for me to record the message, because I wanted to acknowledge it and I wanted to say thank you. So I have no idea what I looked like on it. It really was upsetting that I wasn’t able to be there and I would have really moved mountains to get back there, to stand up there and accept it in person and when I said that to Thierry, the head of the festival, but it just wasn’t possible. And they don’t tell you in advance, so it is what it is and that is how the jury votes. So that is why I did that. It meant a lot to me, it meant an enormous amount to me. And to be acknowledged, because it’s Europe and it’s the world and it’s different to America and it’s a separate sort of world stage in a way. And rarely have I had the opportunity to be able to stand up there and thank people internationally for their support.
Celebrating 50
NK: My sister is coming over with all of her children, my brother-in-law and our kids and Keith and it will just be family. It’s that simple. But I am so happy with that, because that is the most important thing to me, is to be surrounded by my family and I went back to Australia for my mom because she can’t travel right now and it’s too much for her. So I went back and she threw me a party with 40 of my girlfriends. There were a couple of men there, but mainly girlfriends. And it was beautiful actually. My mom got it catered by her friend who has known me since I was a baby, and everyone just kind of sang around the piano and chatted and had good food and my mom gave a speech, and that was perfect, that was a perfect 50th birthday for me. Being 50 feels like sort of an accomplishment I suppose. But also this year, for me to be, what happened to Cannes and those things to be happening now, unbelievably grateful for that, because it’s like oh wow, that feels powerful. And that is a beautiful thing to be given at this age and I don’t know how it happened that all of the confluence of events, for it to happen now, but things work in mysterious ways right? And I am just like okay, to be given this in the year that I turn 50, thank you, thank you God.
Remembering First Films?
NK: I remember going and seeing films, I primarily went to the theater as a child, I was taken to the theater by my parents. So I think that’s probably where my love of acting came from. I was never the kid that raced out to see the Star Wars movies because I was put into a more, my parents would take me to see more unusual films. But I watched, I mean, I would sneak out, I can’t remember the first film I saw, but I remember taking time off school when I shouldn’t have been, and I would sit in the Arthouse cinema by myself and watch films. And I would watch Kubrick films, I would watch Fellini films and that is where I got my education in terms of world cinema. And it’s fascinating to me that that could go away. Because that is where I was built. I sat in that dark cinema, and I was completely transported. And there’s something very different about watching a film in a cinema than watching it in your living room because of that magic and the quality of the darkness and the big screen. So I don’t think that will ever go away and I hope it really doesn’t. But something like “Big Little Lies” as I said, that is something that is made for the small screen. That is not a piece of cinema, that is cinematic television is what I call that. And that has reached a massive audience. But I still want to go and see the next “2001” in a cinema.
Shift in Media Attitude
NK: I don’t know. that is a hard thing for me to comment on and I feel very connected to the world and to people and I think my ability to express myself is probably stronger now and I feel more able to do it, so I don’t know. I mean if you just live your life, and I have always tried to just live my life and do what I feel is right and be as compassionate in the journey, then hopefully that plays out how that is going to play out.
Favorite Roles
I love the film “Rabbit Hole.” I think that is very high on my list of films and performances, probably because it came from a place in here. And it was very hard to raise the money to get that made. Obviously “Moulin Rouge” and “The Others.” People forget about “The Others” but I love “The Others.” I watch it every now and then because I love what Alejandro Amenabar did with that stylistically. And he really supported the performance with the camera and the way he shot it. I would love to work with him again. Strangely enough, even things like “Dogville” I look and go hah, that was so weird and unusual. But the way Lars did it was really, I am so glad I am a part of that. I am not sure where my performances lie within it but to have been a part of a musical and then go and do something that is deeply real in terms of “Rabbit Hole” and then to do something so avant-garde as “Dogville” or “Sacred Deer” that is for me what it’s all about. And then to go out and do something as crazy and as wild and as abandoned as that weird, that is what I want to do. I want to be able to go I am just going to do this now, something completely left of center.
Passions?
NK: My biggest passion is my family. I was with Keith the other night and he won four awards at the CMT, and so sit in the audience and see him win these awards for the music that he makes, I was like oh, I am so glad he is being acknowledged. And they were fan voted those awards, so for him to be acknowledged like that. And for my daughter to see, she said to me, you and daddy kiss all the time, and I was like, that is a fantastic thing for your daughter to say to you. I know it’s a simple answer, but I am deeply passionate about raising my children and being with my husband. I am also devoted to my momma, because she is in the world and she is still here and she formed me, she is the basis for who I am. To be able to go back and be around her and she still teaches me. I have always been like that, ever since I have been a little girl, I have wanted to be around my family, give to my family and be a part of a family.
James Wan and Aquaman
NK: I just wanted to have some fun. And James sent me the script for Aquaman and he said, I wrote this for you and I want you to do this and all my storyboards have you in them. So it’s nice when somebody that you know really well offers you something like that. That is part of what I was saying, is just always try new things, the idea of going and doing it, it’s a small role, so it’s not like I have to commit an enormous amount of time and I get to go and have a bit of fun. And also, it’s shooting in Australia, so in that regard, I get to go back home and I get to be near my mom and be part of that whole universe, which is a completely different universe.
Comic Books?
NK: I caught up on a lot of comic books, I didn’t even know much about that whole super hero world and you all obviously know about it, but golly, it’s new for me. I think it comes out the end of next year, so they get made way in advance. But at one stage I was like oh, I better take this seriously. And I have been offered other ones before and they didn’t work out, but this one worked out. I get to be a mermaid warrior.
Holiday
NK: I am doing nothing now, I am on holiday now. I start holiday Monday and then I am doing nothing for six weeks cause I am on summer break, and then I go to Australia. This holiday, we are gonna swim in the ocean. I grew up near the ocean, I am an Australian girl and to be able to be near the ocean, that’s also very an important part of my life, nature.
