Nicole Kidman Biography (2)
For her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in THE HOURS - Stephen Daldry's feature adaptation of Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer prize-winning novel, which also stars Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore - Kidman won the 2003 Best Actress Academy Award, as well as The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama, along with the BAFTA Award for Best Actress and the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear Award for Best Actress (together with Streep and Moore, an unprecedented event in that Festival's distinguished history). She was also nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award as Best Actress for the film.
Kidman recently finished shooting COLD MOUNTAIN on location in Romania. Based on Charles Frazier's best-selling novel, the film was both adapted for the screen and directed by Anthony Minghella and also stars Renee Zellwegger, Natalie Portman and Jude Law. Prior to that, Kidman travelled to Toronto to star in a film adaptation of Philip Roth's provocative novel, THE HUMAN STAIN, co-starring Anthony Hopkins, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris, for director Robert Benton.
Kidman has just begun filming BIRTH in New York City, playing opposite Lauren Bacall and Danny Huston for director Jonathan Glazer (SEXY BEAST).
Kidman's range and versatility have won her wide acclaim for daring performances. Last year, for her performances in both Baz Luhrmann's innovative musical feature, MOULIN ROUGE and in writer/director Alejandro Amenabar's wildly successful psychological thriller, THE OTHERS, she received dual Golden Globe Award nominations, as Best Actress in a Musical and Best Actress in a Drama. She won the Golden Globe for the former. MOULIN ROUGE also earned Kidman a London Film Critics Circle Best Actress Award and an Oscar nomination. THE OTHERS earned her a BAFTA nomination.
In 2000, Kidman co-starred with Ben Chaplin in writer/director Jez Butterworth's black comedy/thriller, BIRTHDAY GIRL. In 1999, Kidman starred opposite Tom Cruise in Stanley Kubrick's EYES WIDE SHUT. In 1998, she co-starred with Sandra Bullock in Griffin Dunne's romantic comedy, PRACTICAL MAGIC, in 1997 with George Clooney in Mimi Leder's international thriller, THE PEACEMAKER, and in 1996, opposite John Malkovich in Jane Campion's screen adaptation of Henry James' PORTRAIT OF A LADY.
In 1995, Kidman starred as Suzanne Stone in director Gus Van Sant's widely acclaimed black comedy TO DIE FOR. For her pitch-perfect, wickedly funny portrayal of a woman obsessed with the dream of becoming a TV personality, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, along with Best Actress Awards from the Boston Film Critics, National Broadcast Film Critics, London Film Critics, and the Seattle Film Festival. She was also nominated by BAFTA in the Best Actress category.
Other film credits include: DAYS OF THUNDER, BILLY BATHGATE (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination), MALICE, MY LIFE, Ron Howard's FAR AND AWAY and Joel Schumacher's BATMAN FOREVER.
Kidman made a highly lauded London stage debut in the fall of 1998, starring with Iain Glenn in the The Blue Room, David Hare's modern adaptation of Schnitzler's La Ronde, for director Sam Mendes and the Donmar Warehouse. This production, in which Kidman and Glenn each took on five different roles, was the hit of the London theatre season and for her performance Kidman won London's Evening Standard Award "for special and significant contribution to the London Theatre" and was nominated in the Best Actress category for a Laurence Olivier Award. The Blue Room moved to Broadway for a sold-out, limited run from November of 1998 through March of 1999.
Born in Hawaii, Kidman spent her childhood in Australia with parents who instilled in her a love of culture and education. Her father is a lecturer in biochemistry, and her mother is a nurse/educator. Kidman studied ballet as a young child, and enrolled in drama school at 10. She made her debut in an Australian film, BUSH CHRISTMAS, at fourteen and began to mix her schoolwork while working in film. She appeared in projects such as Winners and the Disney Channel mini-series, Five Mile Creek. Between films, Kidman honed her craft at the Australian Theatre for Young People in Sydney, and the Philip Street Theatre where she learned voice, production and studied Theatre history.
The much-lauded 1985 Kennedy-Miller mini-series, Vietnam, made her a virtual overnight star in Australia. Only seventeen at the time, Kidman was voted Best Actress of the Year by both the Australian public and the Australian Film Institute for her performance. In addition to public and critical acclaim, her performance in the series also attracted the attention of filmmakers throughout Australia.
Her subsequent portrayal of the terrorized wife in DEAD CALM, the thriller directed by Philip Noyce co-starring Sam Neill and Billy Zane, was praised by critics both in Australia and abroad. Following the success of DEAD CALM, Kidman reunited with the production team of Kennedy-Miller for a second acclaimed mini-series, Bangkok Hilton Once again, Kidman received rave reviews for her performance (opposite Denholm Elliot), and was voted Best Actress of 1989 by the Variety Awards and, once again, the Australian public. Her other notable Australian films include EMERALD CITY (for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination from the Australian Film Institute), and FLIRTING (the sequel to The Year My Voice Broke). She appeared on stage playing lead roles in Steel Magnolias at the Sydney Seymour Center for which she was nominated Best Newcomer by the Sydney Theatre Critics and Spring Awakening at the Australian Theatre for Young People.
Buy more detailed movie star biographies in the Movie Star Bookstore.