Mini Biography

Elegant redhead Nicole Kidman, known as one of Hollywood's top Australian imports, was actually born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Anthony (a biochemist and clinical psychologist) and Janelle (a nursing instructor) Kidman. The family moved almost immediately to Washington, D.C., where Nicole's father pursued his research on breast cancer, then, three years later, made the pilgrimage to her parents' native Sydney.

Young Nicole's first love was ballet, but she eventually took up mime and drama as well (her first stage role was a bleating sheep in an elementary school Christmas pageant). In her adolescent years, acting edged out the other arts and became a kind of refuge--as her classmates sought out fun in the sun, the fair-skinned Kidman retreated to dark rehearsal halls to practice her craft. She worked regularly at the Philip Street Theater, where she once received a personal letter of praise and encouragement from audience member Jane Campion (then a film student).

Kidman eventually dropped out of high school to pursue acting full-time. She broke into movies at age 16, landing a role in the Australian holiday favorite Bush Christmas (1983). That appearance touched off a flurry of film and TV offers, including a lead in BMX Bandits (1983) and a turn as a schoolgirl-turned-protester in the miniseries "Vietnam" (1986) (mini) (for which she won her first Australian Film Institute Award). With the help of an American agent, she eventually made her US debut opposite Sam Neill in the at-sea thriller Dead Calm (1989).

Kidman's next casting coup scored her more than exposure. While starring as Tom Cruise's doctor/love interest in the racetrack romance Days of Thunder (1990), she won over the Hollywood hunk hook, line, and sinker. After a whirlwind courtship (and decent box office returns), the couple wed on December 24, 1990. Determined not to let her new marital status overshadow her fledgling career, the actress pressed on. She appeared as a catty high school senior in the Australian film Flirting (1991), then as Dustin Hoffman's moll in the gangster flick Billy Bathgate (1991). She reunited with Cruise for Far and Away (1992), the story of young Irish lovers who flee to America in the late 1800s, and starred opposite Michael Keaton in the tear-tugger _My Life (1993)_ .

Despite her steady employment, critics and moviegoers still hadn't quite warmed to Kidman as a leading lady. She tried to spice up her image by seducing Val Kilmer in Batman Forever (1995), but achieved her real breakthrough with Gus Van Sant's _To Die for (1995)_ . As a fame-crazed housewife determined to eliminate any obstacle in her path, Kidman proved that she had an impressive range and deadly comic timing. She took home a Golden Globe and several critics' awards for the performance.

In 1996, Kidman stepped into a corset to work with her countrywoman and onetime admirer, Jane Campion, on the adaptation of 'Henry James' 's Portrait of a Lady, The (1996). A few months later, she tore across the screen as a nuclear weapons expert in Peacemaker, The (1997), adding "action star" to her professional repertoire. She and Cruise then disappeared into a notoriously long, secretive shoot for Stanley Kubrick's sexual thriller Eyes Wide Shut (1999). The couple's on-screen shenanigans prompted an increase in public speculation about their sex life (rumors had long been circulating that their marriage was a cover-up for Cruise's homosexuality); tired of denying tabloid attacks, they successfully sued _The Star_ for a story alleging that they needed a sex therapist to coach them through love scenes.

Family life has always been a priority for Kidman. Born to social activists (mom was a feminist, dad a labor advocate), Nicole and her little sister, Antonia, discussed current events around the dinner table and participated in their parents' campaigns by passing out pamphlets on street corners. When her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, 17-year-old Nicole stopped working and took a massage course so that she could provide physical therapy (her mom eventually beat the cancer). She and Cruise adopted two children: Isabella Jane (born in 1993) and Connor Antony (born 1995). Despite their rock-solid image, the couple announced in early 2001 that they were separating due to career conflicts

Trivia

• Listed in "People Weekly"s "Most Intriguing People" list. (December 25 1995/January 1 1996 issue)
• She and her husband Tom Cruise donated to Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign for a seat in the U.S. Senate representing New York state. [2000] Suffered a broken rib while rehearsing a dance routine for the movie Moulin Rouge! (2001).
• Production was halted while she recovered. Chosen by People Magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World [1999]
• Chosen by People (USA) magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world [1996] Wore a corset while filming Portrait of a Lady, The (1996) to take her waist down to 19" Spent
• two weeks in bed after filming of Portrait of a Lady, The (1996) - diagnosed as suffering from "emotional stress". Adopted a son and daughter.
• Her father is renowned Sydney psychologist Anthony Kidman, famous in his own right for work done with breast cancer patients, among other things.
• Family: Sister, Antonia Kidman-Hawley. Brother-In-Law, Angus Hawley. Mother, Janelle Kidman. Son, Conor Antony. Daughter, Isabella Jane Relative of late cattle baron Sydney Kidman.
• Dropped out of high school to pursue career. Crusader against child abuse. "Children should be allowed to grow up without fear of
• cruelty." [October 1999] Separated from husband Tom Cruise. [5 February 2001] In Moulin Rouge! (2001) Kidman sang alongside Ewan McGregor.
• Conor Antony (adopted son) born January 17, 1995. Isabella Jane (adopted daughter) born December 22, 1992.
• Sang alongside Robbie Williams in a remake of the duet 'Something Stupid', originally by Frank and Nancy Sinatra Scared of butterflies
• Won 2nd Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for Moulin Rouge! [January 20th, 2002] Named one of People Magazine's '25 Most Intriguing People of 2001'. Named E!'s Celebrity of the Year 2001.
• Named Entertainment Weekly's Entertainer of The Year for 2001. Played a young girl named Grace on a sketch on "Saturday Night Live" (1975) with Mike Myers,
• the next time she played a character named Grace was her 2001 movie, Others, The (2001). She was supposed to be the star of Panic Room (2002), but she hurt herself in a stunt for
• Moulin Rouge! (2001). So, she played the voice of Jodie Foster's divorced husband's wife. Was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine in 2002.
• Sister of Australian television personality Antonia Kidman. Will play Samantha Stevens in film version of classic television series Bewitched.
• Although naturally left-handed, Nicole taught herself to write right- handed for her role in Hours, The (2002), where she played the right- handed author Virginia Woolf.
• Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (13 January 2003) Found out about her first Academy Award nomination, for Moulin Rouge! (2001), while shooting Dogville (2003) in Sweden.
• Ranked #31 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List. Had ranked #83 in 2002.
• First Australian actress to win the Best Actress Academy Award.
• - Voted the 5th Sexist Female Movie Star in the Australian Empire Magazine September 2002.
• Measurements: 34B-23-36 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) In recent polls, she was elected alongside fellow Aussie Hugh Jackman as one of the favorite
• upcoming romantic couples on screen. Originally cast as Mrs. Smith in "Mr & Mrs Smith" (2004).
• Has appeared in "My Life" with Micheal Keaton, "Batman Forever" with Val Kilmer, "The Peacemaker" with George Clooney and "The Portrait of a Lady" with Christian Bale. All five actors have played Batman in a movie.
• She was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1999 (1998 season) for Best Actress for her performance in The Blue Room.
• Best friends with Naomi Watts.
• She was awarded the 1998 Special Award at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards for her special and significant contributions to London Theatre for her performance in The Blue Room.

Personal Quotes

"Every day there is a compromise. Living with somebody requires a lot of understanding.

But I love being married. I really love it. Sometimes I try to downplay it a bit because people are like, 'God you guys.' I just feel so fortunate that I have found someone who will put up with me and stay with me." - on her marriage to Tom Cruise - August 2000 [On husband Tom Cruise] "I wouldn't want to be married to me, but luckily he does."

"Now I can wear heels." [commenting on her break-up with Tom Cruise - August 2001] "It's so bizarre, I'm not scared of snakes or spiders. But I'm scared of butterflies. There is something eerie about them. Something weird!"

And I am standing in front of my mother, And my WHOLE life I have wanted to make my mother proud. And now I'm going to make my daughter proud. (On winning the Academy Award for "The Hours")

"When I heard about the Suzanne role in To Die For, I thought, 'I'll never get it - it'll be offered to someone else.' So I called Gus [Van Sant] at home, and he took my call, thank God.

I told him I'd seen Drugstore Cowboy, and I really wanted to work with him. I said I was destined to work with him."

"I think it's important that we don't all have to hold our heads high all the time saying everything's fine."

"These different people that I play become the loves of my life." The split from Tom Cruise left me very fragile but I'd love to marry again.

"I would love to have boobs and a butt like Jennifer Lopez but I'm not having surgery so there it is"

I've never been so excited to have people walk all over me for the rest of my life. (On receiving her star on the Walk of Fame)

"You want to take some responsibility in your choices so that it sets the groundwork for that next generation of actresses - so for me doing Lars von Trier, I would hope that says to another generation: 'go and seek out those directors, it's ok'."

On Dogville: "One day it would be a fairytale, the next it was a nightmare. Lars was gentle with me - he was gentle and soft, then he would beat me up emotionally when he felt he needed that. I did not always register what was happening until afterwards but you shouldn't have too much awareness as an actor, I don't think."

Stepford Wives, The (2004)$15,000,000
Cold Mountain (2003)$15,000,000
Hours, The (2002)$7,500,000
Moulin Rouge! (2001)$7,000,000
Practical Magic (1998)$6,000,000

Movie Quotes

Born in Hawaii and raised in Australia, she studied dance and drama from childhood and made her film debut in Bush Christmas (1983) at the age of 14.

Her performance in the 1985 Australian miniseries "Vietnam" made her a star in that country and won her several awards. Other credits include BMX Bandits (1983), Wills and Burke: The Untold Story (1985), Windrider (1986, as a rock star), Emerald City (1989), and the miniseries "Five Mile Creek" (1985) and "Bangkok Hilton" (1990).

Her performance as a snooty upperclasswoman in Flirting (1990) was duly noted when American moviegoers got to see the film in 1992. This tall, strawberry-blond actress garnered excellent notices for her first major film role, as the terrorized but resourceful wife adrift with a homicidal maniac in the Australian sailing thriller Dead Calm (1989). She came to America for Days of Thunder (1990), in which she was conveniently cast as a doctor for leading man Tom Cruise.

The highly touted racing saga failed to live up to expectations, but offscreen Kidman won the heart of costar Cruise, whom she subsequently married. Since then, she has played Dutch Schultz's moll in Billy Bathgate (1991), an Irish immigrant in Far and Away (1992, reteamed with Cruise), an American spouse (who's a psychopath in reality), in the overheated Malice and an expectant mother in the tearjerker My Life (both 1993). In 1995, Kidman starred in Batman Forever and To Die For.