The blockbuster movie Nicole Kidman regrets
During the early 2000s, Nicole Kidman was slowly becoming one of the biggest actors in Hollywood. Although not every one of her movies was a winner with the critics, her performances in films such as Moulin Rouge became some of the biggest blockbusters at the time. If it happened so well with director Baz Luhrmann the first time, though, why not try to make something even bigger the second time around?
Working alongside Hugh Jackman, Kidman was looking to make something far more ambitious than her previous efforts on Australia. Framed as an epic in the style of Hollywood classics like Gone With the Wind, the film provided stunning visuals of the Australian landscape and dealt with serious topics regarding the region, including the treatment of Aboriginal children in the wake of World War One.
Though the film struck a nerve with some of the public, the critics were fairly mixed, ranging from being completely shallow and utterly vapid in spots to praising the cinematic scope that Luhrmann was reaching for. Despite some of the fair criticisms from the film world, the harshest critic was Kidman herself.
By her own admission, Kidman was so confident about the film that she signed on to take it before reading the script. Although Kidman does not like to see her movies on the big screen, her appearance at the Sydney premiere didn’t imply that she was enthused to see the film by any stretch, saying, “This is a celebration for me and hopefully for this country. It’s not meant to be the Second Coming. It’s meant to be, ‘Let’s have some fun and enjoy it.'”
Just a few minutes into the screening, though, Kidman was appalled by what she saw, concluding that her performance was terrible. After the fact, Kidman would talk about how hard it was to see herself in the film, remembering, “I sat there, and I looked at Keith and went, ‘Am I any good in this movie?’ But I thought Brandon Walters and Hugh Jackman were wonderful. It’s just impossible for me to connect to it emotionally at all”.
Kidman’s reaction to the film made her so uneasy that she actually left the premiere directly after to avoid any questions from the press about her performance. Despite the talent onboard, the film tended to fall prey to style over substance most of the time, with the exaggerated focus on Australian culture and Baz Luhrmann.
Then again, Kidman didn’t take long to recover from her uneasiness. After starring in more family-friendly material and romantic comedies, Kidman began working in more critically acclaimed films, starring in 2016’s Lion and Robert Eggers’s latest film, The Northman. Kidman has also found time to return to action-based roles, becoming part of the DCEU as Queen Atlanna in the Aquaman franchise.
Looking back on her performance, Kidman has decided to stick to her principles about not watching the final product on the big screen. While it’s usually easy to take criticism for one’s work, it’s another matter when the final product makes the actor’s skin crawl.
