Nicole Kidman
Kidman in April 2010
Born	Nicole Mary Kidman (1967-06-20) 20 June 1967 (age 56) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Nationality	Australian
Citizenship	American-Australian
Occupation(s)	Actress, spokesmodel, singer, producer[1]
Years active	1983–present
Spouse(s)	Tom Cruise (1990–2001) Keith Urban (2006–present)
Relatives	Antonia Kidman (sister)
Website	http://www.nicolekidmanofficial.com/

Nicole Mary Kidman, AC (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian actress, singer, producer,^[1] spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm. Following several films over the early 1990s, she came to worldwide recognition for her performances in Days of Thunder (1990), Far and Away (1992), and Batman Forever (1995). Kidman followed this with other successful films in the late 1990s, it was her performance in the musical, Moulin Rouge! (2001) which earned Kidman her second Golden Globe Award and first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Her performance as Virginia Woolf the following year in the drama film, The Hours receieved critical acclaim and earned Kidman the Academy Award for Best Actress amongst other awards.

Kidman's other successful films include, Cold Mountain (2003), The Interpreter (2005), Happy Feet (2006) and Australia (2008). Her performance in 2010's Rabbit Hole (which she also produced) earned Kidman further praise and award nominations including a subsequent Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Kidman has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNIFEM since 2006.^[2] Kidman's work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, most notably, a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, three Golden Globe Awards, one BAFTA and an Academy Award. In 2006, Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honour,^[3] and was also the highest-paid actress in the motion picture industry.^[4] As a result of being born to Australian parents in Hawaii, Kidman has dual citizenship of Australia and the United States.^[5]

Life and career

1967-1987: Early life and career beginnings

Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her father, Dr. Antony David Kidman, is a biochemist, clinical psychologist, and author, with an office in Lane Cove, Sydney, Australia.^[6][7] Her mother, Janelle Ann (née Glenny), is a nursing instructor who edits her husband's books and was a member of the Women's Electoral Lobby. At the time of Kidman's birth in 1967, her father was a visiting fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health of the United States. The family returned to Australia when Kidman was four and her parents now live on Sydney's North Shore. Kidman has a younger sister, Antonia Kidman, a journalist and TV presenter. She is of Irish descent through her great-great-great-grandparents, James and Bridget Callachor, who settled in Sydney in 1842.^[8]

Kidman attended Lane Cove Public School and North Sydney Girls' High School. As a child, Kidman aspired to be an actress and performer, she was enrolled in ballet at three and showed her natural talent for acting in her primary and high school years.^[9] Kidman revealed she was timid as a child adding, "I am very shy – really shy – I even had a stutter as a kid, which I slowly got over, but I still regress into that shyness. So I don’t like walking into a crowded restaurant by myself; I don’t like going to a party by myself".^[10] In 1984, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, which caused Kidman to temporarily halt her education and help provide for the family by working as a massage therapist at age 17.^[9] She studied at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, and at the Phillip Street Theatre in Sydney, with actress and friend Naomi Watts who had attended the same High School as her.^[9][11] This was followed by attending the Australian Theatre for Young People.^[9] Here she took up drama, mime and performing in her teens, finding acting to be a refuge. Due to her fair skin and naturally red hair, the Australian sun forced the young Kidman to rehearse in halls of the theatre. A regular at the Phillip Street Theatre, she received both encouragement and praise to pursue acting full-time.^[12]

In 1983, aged 16, Kidman dropped out of high school and made her film debut in the Australian holiday season favourite, Bush Christmas.^[12] She made an appearance in film came as a teenager in the Pat Wilson music video for the song "Bop Girl". By the end of 1983, she had a supporting role in the television series Five Mile Creek and began gaining popularity in the mid-1980's after appearing in several film roles, including BMX Bandits, Watch the Shadows Dance (1987) and the romantic comedy, Windrider (1986) which earned Kidman attention due to her racy scenes in the film. During the 1980s, she appeared in several Australian productions, including the soap opera A Country Practice, the miniseries Vietnam (1986). She also made multiple guest appearances on Australian television programs and TV movies.

1988-1994: Breakthrough in American cinema

In 1988 appeared Emerald City based on the play of the same name the film was produced in Australia earned Kidman a Australian Film Institute for Best Supporting Actress. After appearing in the Australian mini-series Bangkok Hilton, Kidman starred in Dead Calm (1989) as Rae Ingram, playing the wife of naval officer opposite Sam Neill and Billy Zane. The thriller garnered strong reviews and brought Kidman to international recognition; Variety commented: "Throughout the film, Kidman is excellent. She gives the character of Rae real tenacity and energy."^[13] Meanwhile, critic Roger Ebert noted the excellent chemistry between the leads, stating, "Kidman and Zane do generate real, palpable hatred in their scenes together."^[14] She followed the success with Dead Calm starring alongside her then boyfriend and future husband, Tom Cruise in the 1990 auto racing film, Days of Thunder, playing a young doctor who falls in love with a NASCAR driver. She also appeared alongside Randy Quaid and Robert Duvall. This was Kidman's American debut and was among the highest-grossing films of the year.^[15] That same year she auditioned for the role of Molly in the blockbuster film Ghost but lost the role to Demi Moore.^[16]

In 1991, she co-starred with former classmate and friend, Naomi Watts in the independent film Flirting which was a success in Australia. Both Kidman and Watts portrayed two high school girls in the coming of age film and won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film. That same year she earned critical acclaim in the film, Billy Bathgate based on the novel of the same name opposite Dustin Hoffman, earning Kidman her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The New York Times added, "Miss Kidman is a beauty with, it seems, a sense of humor".^[17] The following year she and Cruise re-teamed for Ron Howard's Irish epic Far and Away (1992), which was a modest critical and commercial success and further brought Kidman into the American cinema spotlight. Cruise and Kidman's performance received the most critical praise, Rolling Stone writes that the film was, "magnetically played by Cruise and Kidman, who represents the movie at best".^[18]

In 1993, she starred opposite Michael Keaton in My Life though the film was met with mixed reviews but was substantial success at the box office. That same year Kidman appeared opposite Alec Baldwin in the American thriller Malice, which also featured Gwyneth Paltrow, Bill Pullman, and Anne Bancroft. Met with gererally positive reviews, Kidman earned praise for her performance adding, "After listless performances in such pics as Days of Thunder and Far and Away, Aussie Kidman, who here uses a flawless American accent, proves her strengths as an actress."^[19] During an interview, Kidman revealed she refused to screen test for the role of Jenny in Forrest Gump (1994), a part that went to Robin Wright Penn.^[20]

1995-2001: International success and critical acclaim

In 1995, Kidman appeared in her highest grossing film to date,^[21] playing Dr. Chase Meridian and the damsel in distress in the superhero film, Batman Forever opposite Val Kilmer as the film's title character, Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones. The movie was a blockbuster, and became the second-highest grossing film of the year.^[22] That same year Kidman appeared in Gus Van Sant's critically-acclaimed dark comedy, To Die For earning her critical praise for her portrayal of the murderous newscaster Suzanne Stone Maretto.^[23] The San Francisco Chronicle writes, "[She] brings to the role layers of meaning, intention and impulse. Telling her story in close-up - as she does throughout the film - Kidman lets you see the calculation, the wheels turning, the transparent efforts to charm that succeed in charming all the same." ^[24] USA Today writes, "Kidman with her best role to date as a psychotic New Hampshire TV weather girl with an outwardly pompon persona. Only an actress with Kidman's fresh-faced features could even attempt the part".^[25] For this performance Kidman won her first Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and earned her first BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Kidman appeared in the film, The Portrait of a Lady (1996) based on the novel the same name alongside, Barbara Hershey, John Malkovich and Mary-Louise Parker. The following year she appeared in the action/thriller film, The Peacemaker (1997) as a White House nuclear expert Dr. Julia Kelly opposite George Clooney. Though the film was released to mixed reviews it was a commercial success grossing over $120,000,000 worldwide. That same year she appeared opposite Sandra Bullock in the fantasy film Practical Magic as a modern-day witch. The film was released to mixed reviews but was a substantial success domestically and worlwide, several critics praised both Kidman and Bullock's pairing writing, "The most appealing aspect of Practical Magic, unsurprisingly, is the pairing of Bullock and Kidman, two of the most likable stars around. Both are in terrific form here and the chemistry they generate single-handedly powers the film".^[26] Kidman returned to her work on stage the same year in the David Hare play, The Blue Room, which opened in London.

In 1999, appeared in a controversial film and re-uniting with then husband, Tom Cruise, portraying a married couple in Eyes Wide Shut, the final film of Stanley Kubrick. The film opened to generally positive reviews but was subject to censorship controversies due to the explicit nature of its sex scenes.^[27] Despite the controversy Kubrick said this film was his "greatest contribution to the art of cinema",^[28] the film received further attention following Kubrick's death shortly after the film's release. A reviewer singled-out Kidman's performance as a stand out writing, "Kidman is consistently excellent. This is the most powerful role she has taken on throughout a varied career".^[29] After brief hiatus and a highly-publicized divorce from Tom Cruise,^[30] Kidman returned to the screen in the British-American drama, Birthday Girl which premiered at the 2001 Venice Film Festival. Kidman played a mail-order bride in the film which also featured actors Ben Chaplin and Vincent Cassel and was released to generally positive reviews. The Guardian writes, "Cassel, Kassovitz and Kidman are beautifully graceful against the backdrop of signs to Tring and Newbury." He continued "The comedy here is gentle, Kidman's exoticism, encapsulated by her peasant-chic wardrobe, is fresh air in St Albans".^[31] CNN praised Kidman's "astounding range" adding, "With Birthday Girl, Kidman has shrewdly chosen another project that lets her shine in her own spotlight -- especially now that she doesn't have to share that light with another world-class superstar. Kidman has definitely come into her own."^[32]

In 2001, Kidman appeared in two of her most critically and commercially successful films. The first, was as cabaret actress and courtesan, Satine, in Baz Luhrmann's musical film, Moulin Rouge! oppposite Ewan McGregor. Her first singing role, Kidman's musical numbers and performance earned Kidman critical praise, a review in Variety states, "With her alabaster-and-flame look amplified by a scar of red lipstick and dazzling costumes, Kidman's Satine evokes screen goddesses from Dietrich to Garbo to Monroe, and the actress's own iconic status is exalted in the process". Subsequently, Kidman received her second Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy as well as other acting awards. She also received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Also in 2001, she also had a well-received starring role in the Alejandro Amenábar's Spanish horror film The Others as Grace Stewart. Grossing over $210,947,037 worldwide, the film also earned several Goya Awards award nominations (Spanish equivalent to the Academy Awards) including a Best Actress nomination for Kidman. Additionally she received her second BAFTA and fifth Golden Globe nominations. She was originally set to star in David Fincher's Panic Room but was injured during filming, Moulin Rouge! and was replaced with Jodie Foster.

2002-2008: Oscar win, acclaim and endorsements

In 2003, Kidman won critical praise for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in Stephen Daldry's highly-acclaimed film, The Hours, which also featured Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore. Kidman wore prosthetics that were applied to her nose making her almost unrecognisable playing the author during her time in 1920s England and her bouts with depression, mental illness whilst trying to write her novel, Mrs. Dalloway. The film earned universal acclaim earning several nominations of the film and its actors including Best Picture. Kidman along with her two co-stars' performances receieved the most praise, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone writes, "Nicole Kidman de-glams herself with a fake nose to play suicidal author Virginia Woolf, but there's nothing fake about her performance. Kidman's acting is superlative, full of passion and feeling. Moore is wrenching. And Streep is a miracle worker. These three unimprovable actresses make The Hours a thing of beauty".^[33] The New York Times writes, "In The Hours Kidman tunnels like a ferret into the soul of a woman besieged by excruciating bouts of mental illness. As you watch her wrestle with the demon of depression, it is as if its torment has never been shown on the screen before. Directing her desperate, furious stare into the void, her eyes not really focusing, Ms. Kidman, in a performance of astounding bravery, evokes the savage inner war waged by a brilliant mind against a system of faulty wiring that transmits a searing, crazy static into her brain".^[34] For this performance Kidman won numerous critics awards including her first BAFTA, third Golden Globe, and the Academy Award for Best Actress. Kidman became the first Australian actress to win an Academy Award, during her acceptance speech, Kidman made a teary statement about the importance of art, even during times of war saying, "Why do you come to the Academy Awards when the world is in such turmoil? Because art is important. And because you believe in what you do and you want to honour that, and it is a tradition that needs to be upheld."^[35]

Following her Oscar win, Kidman appeared in three very different films in 2003. The first, a leading role in the film Dogville, by Danish director Lars von Trier, was an experimental film set on a bare soundstage. The film was met with positive reviews. The second film, an adaptation of Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain, opposite Anthony Hopkins was met with mixed reviews. Her third film, Anthony Minghella's war drama, Cold Mountain, was a critical and commercial success. Kidman appeared opposite Jude Law and Renée Zellweger as, Ada Monroe, a Southerner who is in love with Law's character and separated by the Civil War. TIME magazine writes, "Kidman takes strength from Ada's plight and grows steadily, literally luminous. Her sculptural pallor gives way to warm radiance in the firelight".^[36] The film garnered several award nominations and wins for its actors which also featured an ensemble cast incudling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Brendan Gleeson, Kathy Baker and Natalie Portman. For her performance, Kidman received her sixth Golden Globe nomination at the 61st Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress.

In 2004 Kidman appeared in the film, Birth, which received controversy over a scene in which Kidman shares a bath with her co-star, 10-year old Cameron Bright. At a press conference at the Venice Film Festival, Kidman addressed the controversy saying, "It wasn't that I wanted to make a film where I kiss a 10-year-old boy. I wanted to make a film where you understand love".^[37] The film however released negative to mixed reviews, despite this Kidman earned her seventh Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress - Motion Picture. That same year she appeared in the black comedy/science fiction film The Stepford Wives a remake of the 1975 film of the same name. Kidman appeared in the lead role as, Joanna Eberhart, a successful producer. The film was directed by Frank Oz, also featured acclaimed actors, Bette Midler, Christopher Walken, Glenn Close, Matthew Broderick, and musician Faith Hill. The film however was a critically panned and was a commercial failure. The following year, Kidman appeared in two films, the first was opposite Sean Penn in the Sydney Pollack thriller, The Interpreter (2005) playing UN translator Silvia Broome. The film received mixed to positive reviews and was commercial success. Her second film was, Bewitched based on the 1960s TV sitcom of the same name opposite Will Ferrell was generally panned by critics. Both Kidman and Ferrell earned the Razzie Award for "Worst Screen Couple" that year. Neither film fared well in the United States, their box office sales falling well short of the production costs, but both films fared well internationally.^[38][39]

In conjunction with her success in the film industry, Kidman became the face of the Chanel No. 5 perfume brand. She starred in a campaign of television and print ads with Rodrigo Santoro, directed by Moulin Rouge! director Baz Luhrmann to promote the fragrance during the holiday season in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008. The three-minute commercial produced for Chanel No. 5 made Kidman the record holder for the most money paid per minute to an actor after she reportedly earned US$12million for the 3 minute advert.^[40] During this time, Kidman was also listed as the 45th Most Powerful Celebrity on the 2005 Forbes Celebrity 100 List. She made a reported US$14.5 million in 2004–2005. On People magazine's list of 2005's highest paid actresses, Kidman was second behind Julia Roberts with a US$16 million to US$17 million per-film price tag.^[41] Nintendo announced that Kidman would be the new face of Nintendo's advertising campaign for the Nintendo DS game More Brain Training in its European market.^[42]

Kidman as Diane Arbus in bio-pic Fur (2006) opposite Robert Downey Jr.. Though the film was released to mixed reviews, both Kidman and Downey Jr. receievd praise for their performances. She also lent her voice to the award-winning animated film Happy Feet (2006), which quickly garnered critical and commercial success, the film grossed over US$384 million worldwide. In 2007, she starred in the science fiction movie The Invasion directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, a remake of the film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the 1956 science fiction film. The film was a critical and commercial failure. She also played opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jack Black in Noah Baumbach's comedy-drama Margot at the Wedding released to positive reviews earning Kidman a Satellite Award nomination for Best Actress - Musical or Comedy. She also starred in the fantasy-adventure, The Golden Compass (2007) playing the villainous Marisa Coulter and was commercial success. In 2008, she reunited with Moulin Rouge! director, Baz Luhrmann in Australian period film titled Australia, which is set in the remote Northern Territory during the Japanese attack on Darwin during World War II. Kidman played opposite Hugh Jackman as an English woman feeling overwhelmed by the continent. Despite its mixed reviews the film's acting was praised and was a box office success worldwide.^[43] Kidman was originally set to star in the post-World War II German drama, The Reader working with previous collaborators Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella. Due to her pregnancy prior to filming however she had to back out of the film.^[44] The role went to Kate Winslet who ultimately won the Oscar for Best Actress that year, an award which Kidman presented to Winselt during the 81st Academy Awards.

2009-present: Continued success and current projects

Kidman appeared in the 2009 Rob Marshall musical, Nine, portraying the Federico Fellini's muse and film actress, Claudia Jenssen. She was featured alongside fellow Oscar winners, Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz and Sophia Loren. Kidman's screen time was brief compared to the other actresses, performing a musical number, "Unusual Way" alongside Day-Lewis. Although the film was released to mixed reviews, the film recieved several Golden Globe, Academy Award nominations and earned Kidman a third Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Cast. Also in 2009, Kidman was the front face of an international spread Schweppes commercial.^[45] In 2010, she starred with Aaron Eckhart and Dianne Wiest in the film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Rabbit Hole, for which she vacated her role in the Woody Allen picture, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger.^[46] The film which Kidman also produced,^[1] was directed by John Cameron Mitchell and premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. Though the film grossed a little over $2,000,000 it was critical success, many critics heralded this as Kidman's best performance to date. The New York Times writes, "Ms. Kidman, who excels at playing characters who are chilly, brisk and disciplined even on the verge of collapse, plays Becca like a cracked porcelain windup doll, spinning and lurching and changing directions in a manic attempt to do it right".^[47] For her performance Kidman received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead nomination along with her eighth Golden Globe, fourth Screen Actors Guild and third Academy Award nominations for Best Actress.

She lent her voice to a promotional video that Australia used to support its bid to host the 2018 World Cup. The five-minute video was broadcast at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.^[48] In 2011, Kidman later appeared briefly alongside Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler in the romantic comedy, Just Go with It. She recently finished filming alongside Nicolas Cage in director Joel Schumacher's action-thriller Trespass, with the stars playing a married couple taken hostage.^[49] The film is currently in post-production.

Her upcoming projects include, The Danish Girl, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name, playing Einar Wegener, the world's first post-operative transsexual.^[50] Shooting wil begin in Germany in July.^[51] Variety reported that Kidman would produce and star in a film adaptation of the Chris Cleave's novel Little Bee, in association with BBC Films.^[52][53] Kidman will also appear alongside Clive Owen in an HBO film about Ernest Hemingway and his relationship with Martha Gellhorn played by Kidman. Entitled Hemingway & Gellhorn, directed by Philip Kaufman^[54] began shooting in March 2011, with an air date scheduled for 2012.^[55] The Los Angeles Times reported Kidman is in talks to join the cast of Park Chan Wook's Stoker.^[56]

Personal life

Kidman has been married twice, previously to actor Tom Cruise, and now to singer Keith Urban. She met Cruise in December 1989 on the set of their 1990 movie Days of Thunder. Kidman and Cruise were married on Christmas Eve 1990 in Telluride, Colorado. The couple adopted a daughter, Isabella Jane (born 22 December 1992), and a son, Connor Anthony (born 17 January 1995). They separated just after their 10th wedding anniversary. She was three months pregnant when the couple separated; shortly afterward, Kidman had a miscarriage.^[57] Cruise filed for divorce in February 2001. The marriage was dissolved in 2001, Cruise citing irreconcilable differences.^[58] The reasons for dissolution have never been made public. In Marie Claire, Kidman said she had an ectopic pregnancy early in their marriage.^[59] In the June 2006 Ladies' Home Journal, she said she still loved Cruise: "He was huge; still is. To me, he was just Tom, but to everybody else, he is huge. But he was lovely to me. And I loved him. I still love him." In addition, she has expressed shock about their divorce.^[60]

Prior to marrying Cruise, Kidman had a relationship with fellow Australian Marcus Graham in the 1980s.^[61] The 2003 film Cold Mountain brought rumours that an affair between Kidman and co-star Jude Law was responsible for the break-up of his marriage. Both denied the allegations, and Kidman won an undisclosed sum from the British tabloids that published the story.^[62] She gave the money to a Romanian orphanage in the town where the movie was filmed.^[63] Robbie Williams confirmed they had a short romance on her yacht in summer 2004. Shortly after her Oscar, there were rumours of a relationship with Adrien Brody.^[64] She met musician Lenny Kravitz in 2003 and dated him into 2004.^[65] In a 2007 Vanity Fair interview, Kidman revealed that she was secretly engaged to someone prior to her marriage to Keith Urban.^[66]

Kidman met her second husband, country singer Keith Urban at G'Day LA, an event honouring Australians in January 2005. They married on 25 June 2006, at Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly in Sydney. They maintain homes in Sydney and Sutton Forest, New South Wales, Los Angeles, California and Nashville, Tennessee. In March 2008, they bought mansions in Los Angeles^[67] and Nashville^[68] within days. The couple's daughter, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, was born on 7 July 2008, in Nashville, Tennessee.^[69] Kidman's father said the daughter's middle name was after Urban's late grandmother, Rose.^[70] On December 28, 2010, Kidman and Urban welcomed his second daughter and her third daughter, Faith Margaret Kidman Urban, via gestational carrier^[71] at Nashville's Centennial Women's Hospital. The child is biologically Kidman and Urban's. Faith's middle name is after Kidman's late grandmother.^[72][73]

Kidman mentioned in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres in 2005 that she is banned from doing one of her favourite hobbies – sky diving – while shooting a movie.^[74][75]

In January 2005, Kidman won interim restraining orders against two Sydney paparazzi who persistently stationed themselves outside her Darling Point mansion.^[76]

In the beginning of 2009, Kidman appeared in a series of special edition postage stamps featuring some of Australia's best actors. She, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, and Cate Blanchett each appear twice in the series: once as themselves and once as their Academy Award-winning character.^[77]

Religious and political views

Kidman is a practicing Roman Catholic.^[78] She attended Mary Mackillop Chapel in North Sydney. During her marriage to Cruise, she had been an occasional practitioner of Scientology.^[79] She has been reluctant to discuss Scientology since her divorce.^[80]

Kidman's name was in an advertisement in the Los Angeles Times (17 August 2006) that condemned Hamas and Hezbollah and supported Israel in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.^[81] Kidman has donated to U.S. Democratic party candidates and endorsed John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.^[82]

Charitable work

She has raised money for, and drawn attention to, the disadvantaged children around the world. In 2004, she was honored as a "Citizen of the World" by the United Nations.

On Australia Day 2006 Kidman received Australia's highest civilian honor when she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. She was also nominated goodwill ambassador for UNIFEM.^[83]

Kidman joined the 'Little Tee Campaign' for breast cancer care to design T-shirts or vests to raise money for breast cancer.^[84] Kidman's mother had breast cancer in 1984.^[85]

Kidman was appointed Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in January 2006. Her efforts are geared towards raising awareness on the infringement of women’s human rights around the world, with a particular focus on putting a spotlight on violence against women. In this capacity, Kidman has addressed international audiences at UN events, raised widespread awareness through the media and testified before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs to support the International Violence against Women Act. Kidman visited Kosovo in 2006 to learn first-hand about women’s experiences of conflict and UNIFEM’s efforts to support them. She is the international spokesperson for UNIFEM’s Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women initiative.^[86] As part of Say NO, she has called for more resources and actions to end violence against women, and worked to raise awareness through the media. Kidman and the UNIFEM Executive Director presented over five million signatures collected during the first phase of Say NO to the UN Secretary-General on 25 November 2008.^[87]

On 8 January 2010, Kidman attended alongside Nancy Pelosi, Joan Chen and Joe Torre the ceremony to help Family Violence Prevention Fund break ground on a new international center located in the Presidio of San Francisco intended to combat violence against women and children.^[88][89]

Filmography

Kidman's movies gross total is more than $2 billion (US) with 17 movies making more than $100 million.^[90]

Awards

In 2003, Kidman received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In addition to her 2003 Academy Award for Best Actress, Kidman has received Best Actress awards from the following critics' groups or award-granting organisations: the Hollywood Foreign Press (Golden Globes), the Australian Film Institute, Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Empire Awards, Golden Satellite Awards, Hollywood Film Festival, London Critics Circle, Russian Guild of Film Critics, and the Southeastern Film Critics Association. In 2003, Kidman was given the American Cinematheque Award. She also received recognition from the National Association of Theatre Owners at the ShoWest Convention in 1992 as the Female Star of Tomorrow and in 2002 for a Distinguished Decade of Achievement in Film.

Government honors

In 2006, Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civilian honour, for "service to the performing arts as an acclaimed motion picture performer, to health care through contributions to improve medical treatment for women and children and advocacy for cancer research, to youth as a principal supporter of young performing artists, and to humanitarian causes in Australia and internationally."^[94] However, due to film commitments and her wedding to Urban, it was 13 April 2007 that she was presented with the honour.^[95] It was presented by Governor-General of Australia, Major General Michael Jeffery in a ceremony at Government House, Canberra.^[96]

Discography

• "Come What May" single (Duet with Ewan McGregor – October 2001) AUS #10, UK #27
• "Sparkling Diamonds" (with Caroline O'Connor) – October 2001 (Moulin Rouge! soundtrack)
• "Hindi Sad Diamonds" -October 2001 (Moulin Rouge! soundtrack)
• "Somethin' Stupid" single (Duet with Robbie Williams – December 2001) AUS #8, UK #1l
• "Kiss" / "Heartbreak Hotel" – Nicole Kidman / Hugh Jackman – November 2006 (Happy Feet soundtrack)

References

Additional reading

• Thomson, David (2006). Nicole Kidman. Knopf. ISBN 1-4000-4273-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Official website
• Nicole Kidman at IMDb
• Nicole Kidman at the Internet Broadway Database
• Nicole Kidman at AllMovie
• Template:Ymovies name
• Nicole Kidman at People.com
• Nicole Kidman's charity work

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