The risk of being a woman: How Nicole Kidman became so cool again
An indie film was released “How to talk to girls at parties” based on the story of Neil Gaiman, where an ordinary British high school student meets an alien (as if really unearthly El Fanning) and David Bowie in a female punk look played by a completely unexpected Nicole Kidman with a cigarette in her teeth and leather overalls . One of the main Hollywood actresses celebrated last year’s 50th anniversary with the release of several successful projects: the Big Little Lie series, which she also produced, Sofia Coppola’s dramas “Fatal Temptation”, “The Killing of the sacred deer” of Yorgos Latimos and Lake Top ”Jane Campion. On the eve of her fifty-first birthday, she is in demand more than ever (five new films are coming out with her in the coming year), and by her own example refutes the age-based stereotypes about a female career in Hollywood. We understand how Nicole Kidman again on her way was again at the top.
The heroine Kidman named Boaditseya in "How to talk to girls at parties" tells El Fanning about the origin of his nickname. She describes the leader of the uprising against the Romans, who led the army, not wanting to obey the empire. “The first punk was a woman,” explains Boadtseya, his view of the world and gender relations. Nicole Kidman - the UN ambassador for women's issues - has been publicly speaking about equality in the industry for several years, and her recent roles are consonant with the changes that have come to the film industry.
The Cannes Film Festival, in which Sofia Coppola, who filmed Kidman in Fatal Temptation, received a director's award last year (the second ever award for a female director), this year experienced a female invasion on the red carpet. Oscar prize winner Francis McDormand demanded that attention be paid to women's projects in production and advocated an inclusive rider. Formerly, an Oscar too white for two years in a row gave important awards to African-American authors for the film Moonlight and the script Off. Kidman’s phenomenal career also reflects the changed state of things: acting skills seem to be more interesting for interviewers than personal life - Kidman now talks between business about husband and two children and describing his production plans for his last role.
One of the most striking experiences of his life Kidman calls viewing "A Clockwork Orange": who knew that in twenty-five years the same Stanley Kubrick would call her on the set of "Eyes Wide Shut", where Kidman would not only open up as an incredibly risky actress, but fall in love with the London theater, and later complete the marriage, which was on everyone's sight. "Eyes Wide Shut" really closed the chapter on the promising actress and beautiful wife of Tom Cruise. A few scenes at Kubrick finally showed Kidman, which she was before moving to the Hollywood hills - an actress bold and even transgressive. The one that knocked her charisma down in Dead Calm, the Bangkok Hilton mini-series and Gus Van Sent's black comedy Dying in the Name. "Dogville" finally secured the reputation of the actress of firm will for Kidman: not every one, as is well known, is able to cope with the lustiness of Trier. "I know the feeling of such films, they anger people and make them feel uncomfortable - and I feel comfortable with it," said Kidman about her work with Trier.
Naomi Watts, who knew Kidman for most of her life, wrote a short essay about a friend in Time: "She fills her character with such humanity that it upsets. Watching her, I wanted to stick my hands on the TV screen and hide her from danger."
The Oscar award for Virginia Woolf’s on-screen incarnation gave Kidman a blank check in the choice of roles: the more interesting because she often paid attention not to safe projects, but continued to play women on the verge in which the tragic and the comic strangely combined. The widow in Jonathan Glazer’s “Birth” or the envious sister in Noah Baumbach’s “Margot at the Wedding” are not the most obvious roles for the actress, who on the whole has already gone down in history. But it is these quiet roles in the end that are interesting to recall in her filmography. “The mistakes I made,” she admits in her interviews, “occurred when I tried to be more homogeneous or did not want to seem convex. When I was introduced to conditions that were not suitable for my nature, usually nothing worked out.”
Those who are friends with her and work a lot love talking about Kidman’s ambivalence. Yorgos Lantimos, who shot Kidman as a cold doctor wife from a deceptively prosperous family in Murder of the sacred deer, speaks of her like this: "Nicole can never be one thing. She can not be just a housewife, just a doctor or just a mother : because she is sexy, funny, elegant, scary and awkward - and sometimes both. " Sofia Coppola recalls her grace, which forced the director to offer her to play the dominant abbess of the women's hostel in "Fatal Attraction" - in the coarse scenario of Coppola, the main thing was to play with facial expressions, look and body. John Cameron Mitchell did not think twice about who to call a cameo punk star in “How to talk to girls at parties”: “There are only a few category A actors who do not rest on their laurels and leave the comfort zone. In her age category, only Isabelle Huppert and Tilda Swinton have the same energy - “I want to try everything”. "
There are really a few risks: due to earnings, the fear of being misunderstood and spoiling the reputation. Nicole Kidman speaks very calmly in an interview about the dark sides of himself, is not afraid to admit to real weaknesses instead of standard celebrity-coquetry and with what reverence he talks about directing. In recent conversations with the press, she hints that she wants to try herself in a directing role - which is expected, given that she has already appeared in the producer.
"Big Little Lie" not only brought the actress "Emmy", but also gave the opportunity to showcase all the contradictions of a woman in realistic distress. Actress Naomi Watts, who has known Kidman for most of her life (both began their careers in Australia at about the same time and are familiar with the school), wrote a short essay about a friend in Time, when she entered the hundred most influential people of the year. "She fills her character with such humanity that it grieves. Her emotions. Her fragility. Her ferocity. Her subtlety. Her corporeity. Her courage. Watching her, I wanted to stick my hands on the TV screen and hide it from danger."
The honest approach to the topic of domestic violence, which formed the plot of the series, demanded that Kidman not only sacrifice his own peace of mind - the role was psychologically difficult and exhausting - but also look at the huge problem with the victim's optics. A tense scene (the heroine Kidman walks every day on thin ice, forced to sleep in bed with the enemy), after which the actress came home to cry eyes and, on her own assurance, curled up on her husband’s shoulder, demanded not only courage, but also motivation - to voice untold stories, to show all the rubbish that hides on seemingly safe huts. Of course, “Big Little Lie” is not the first loud film about violence at home, but one of the most effective and transparent, besides, without a shadow of victim labeling. Not a single large-scale television project has ever shown the entire cycle of violence for ten hours - and certainly not taken so much for Emmy.
The older you are, the weightier each role and each act, Kidman thinks. Now she carefully chooses films and words. And most importantly - it does not go anywhere
Kidman, who was born in a loving family, often mentions his feminist mother and the generation of women who sacrificed to many in order for their daughters to have opportunities. As a person who has been working in the industry since the age of fifteen, she faced discrimination and openly talks about how hard it was for her to imagine herself actively acting at fifty: some time ago forty years seemed a critical age for an actress - the secondary role of a mother or grandmother was the lot of each and every Hollywood beauty.
Nicole Kidman also speaks about gender bias in Hollywood: “As an actor, you can be as good as the good roles are offered to you. And there were simply no women around me with their proposals. When you start to understand this issue, you realize that there are no women proposals, because they have no opportunity to offer. " The actress publicly promised to act with female directors at least once a year and a half - and the films Karin Kusami and Rebecca Miller with her participation are already on the way.
Kidman takes all the risks of the past seriously - from the vulgar cameo in Gazettech to the snow queen in Moulin Rouge!: One way or another, she also owes these roles. The older you are, the weightier each role and each act, Kidman thinks. Now she carefully chooses films and words. And most importantly - it does not go anywhere.
Photo: Little Punk, Pacific Standard
