Nicole Kidmanhas revealed that she was nervous to accept one of her most important roles. Kidman is a celebrated actor who first got her start in Australian projects including the cult movieBMX Banditsand the maritime thrillerDead Calm. She began to rise to fame in the 1990s, taking on projects such asFar And Away,Batman Forever, andTo Die For. Over the course of her career, she has now earned five Oscar nominations with one win, 17 Golden Globe nominations with six wins, three Emmy nominations with two wins, and five BAFTA nominations with one win.
More contemporaryNicole Kidman movieshave seen her taking on a variety of unique roles, including playing a villain inPaddington, having Zac Efron as a love interest in bothThe PaperboyandA Family Affair, joining a massive superhero franchise as Queen Atlanna inAquamanand its sequel, and more.She has also branched out to prestige television in recent years, starring in projects such as HBO’sBig Little Lies, Netflix’sThe Perfect Couple, Hulu’sNine Perfect Strangers, and Paramount+‘sSpecial Ops: Lioness.
The 2001 Movie Was A Formative Career Moment
Although it later proved to be an important move for her career,Nicole Kidman was originally unsure about starring opposite Ewan McGregor in 2001’sMoulin Rouge!. The movie, which was directed and co-written by Baz Luhrmann, is a jukebox musical. TheMoulin Rouge!soundtrackfeatures songs by contemporary artists including Madonna and KISS despite being a sweeping love story set in Paris in the late 1800s. It became a hit and a huge stepping stone moment for Kidman, earning her the first of her five Oscar nominations in addition to grossing $179.2 million against its $50 million budget.
Nicole Kidman did not win an Oscar until 2003, when she won Best Actress for her performance as Virginia Woolf inThe Hours.
As part of their Actors on Actors series,VarietypairedChallengersandDune: Part Twostar Zendaya with Nicole Kidman (whose new erotic drama movieBabygirlis a major fixture of the 2024-2025 awards season). During their conversation, Kidman revealed that she had grave doubts about starring inMoulin Rouge!at first. While she wanted to do a love story after making so many “weird films,“she didn’t “feel confident with the voice” aspect of her musical roleuntil Luhrmann “slowly built me up.” Read her full quote below:
Baz was so formative for me. I’d always done these weird films, but I was in my head going, “Gosh, I’m never going to get to do the great love story.” Suddenly, “Moulin Rouge!” came, and I’m like, “A musical love story? I can’t do this.” Because I don’t feel confident with the voice. Then he slowly built me up.
Our Take On Nicole Kidman’s Moulin Rouge! Comments
It Did Not Prove To Be Her Only Musical
AlthoughNicole Kidmanstill does not commonly perform in musicals, it seems that Luhrmann’s efforts to help build her up have stuck. She has so fargone on to appear in two other live-action movie musicalsover the course of her career, followingMoulin Rouge!with 2009’sNineand later joining thecast ofThe Promopposite Meryl Streep and Andrew Rannells. That 2020 title shows that, nearly two decades later, the actress has continued to find ways to embrace her voice.
Moulin Rouge!
Cast
Moulin Rouge! follows Christian, a young writer in Paris, who falls in love with Satine, the star courtesan of the Moulin Rouge cabaret. As they begin a passionate affair, they must hide their love from the jealous Duke, who is funding Satine’s next show.
