Nicole Kidman

Background

Nicole Mary Kidman was born to David Kidman and Janelle Ann. Antonio Kidman, her younger sister, is a journalist and T.V. presenter. Kidman was born in the United States, when her parents, both Australian citizens, were on an academic visa in the U.S. When she was four years old, she and her parents returned to Australia. Before going to North Sydney Girls’ High School, she attended Lane Cove Public School. She got bitten by the performing bug at a young age, and it was evident throughout her primary and secondary school years. Kidman, afterward, went to Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts and Sydney’s Phillip Street Theatre, dabbling into acting, theater, and mime. Kidman’s professional introduction into the field of performance was an obvious step, given her natural talent for it and her beauty.

Kidman had her cinematic breakthrough at the age of 16, in a version of the Australian Christmas classic “Bush Christmas” (1983). She had a minor part in the T.V. show “Five Mile Creek” before the end of the year. Her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984, prompting Kidman to take a break from acting to study massage therapy in order to assist her mother with physiotherapy. After playing in numerous Australian films during this decade, including the action-comedy “BMX Bandits” (1983) and the romantic comedy “Windrider,” she began to attract attention.

She continued to act in Australian television shows throughout the rest of the 1980s, such as the 1987 miniseries “Vietnam,” for which she earned her first Australian Film Institute Award. The premiere of the film “Dead Calm” in 1989 marked a pivotal point in Kidman’s career. Her performance as Rae Ingram won her critical accolades as well as international attention. Since then, this talented and diverse actor has continued to deliver hit after hit. “Days of Thunder” was Kidman’s big-ticket to Hollywood stardom. Not only was it her debut movie in the American film industry, but it was also one of the year’s most successful. She appeared in the films “Batman Forever” and “To Die For” in lead roles. While the former was the highest-grossing live-action film of 2011, the latter was the first to receive a Golden Globe nomination.

While her films were doing well in terms of ticket sales and receiving widespread critical and public praise, Kidman continued to pursue her passion for theater and was recently seen in David Hare’s “The Blue Room,” which premiered in London. Kidman played Sue, the adoptive mother of Saroo Brierley, an Indian youngster who was separated from his birth family, in the 2016 film “Lion,” a part she felt linked to because she is the mother of adopted children herself. Her portrayal earned her a number of accolades, including her first Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actress,’ her fourth nomination overall, and her eleventh Golden Globe Award nomination.

Kidman starred as Grace Fraser, a successful New York therapist, in the H.B.O. psychological thriller miniseries “The Undoing,” which was based on Jean Hanff Korelitz’s novel “You Should Have Known.” For her portrayal, Kidman was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She starred in and executive produced the Hulu miniseries “Nine Perfect Strangers” in 2021. Despite her delight at the achievement, she maintained her focus and paid close attention to her career trajectory, which was steadily ascending.

Nicole Kidman’s first love was Marcus Graham, an Australian theater actor. Regardless of the fact that they shared a home, they did not have an official agreement to get married. In the mid-1980s, she had an on-again, off-again relationship with Tom Burlinson. Kidman, eventually, fell in love with “Days of Thunder” co-star Tom Cruise while filming. They married on December 24, 1990, in Telluride, Colorado. Isabella Jane, a daughter, and Connor Anthony, a son, were their adoptive children. The two divorced after a decade of living together, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split.

Kidman dated Lenny Kravitz, an artist, from 2003 to 2004. She had a brief fling with Robbie Williams. At G’Day LA, an event honoring Australians, she met Keith Urban, an Australian country musician, in 2005. On June 25, 2006, at Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel, on the grounds of St Patrick’s Estate in Manly, Sydney, the two stepped up to the altar. The couple’s daughters are Sunday Rose Kidman Urban and Faith Margaret Kidman Urban. Kidman was raised in a Catholic home and continues to be a devout Catholic. She was the face of a number of brands, including Chanel No. 5 perfume, Nintendo’s ad campaign, and an international Schweppes ad.