The Oscar-winning movie Nicole Kidman turned down
With an Oscar win under her belt, alongside several celebrated collaborations with the likes of Stanley Kubrick, Jonathan Glazer, Yorgos Lanthimos and Lars von Trier, there’s no doubt that Nicole Kidman is one of modern cinema’s greatest performers. Arriving in the industry in the early 1980s, Kidman has gone on to show her versatility in arthouse roles and franchise flicks, maintaining a consistently high standard no matter the project.
Despite entering the industry in the late ‘80s, it would take a decade for Kidman to find her feet in Hollywood, with her appearance alongside Tom Cruise in the 1990 film Days of Thunder changing her career entirely. Not only was it the Australian actor’s very first international feature appearance, but the film also allowed a romance between the two leads to blossom, with Kidman eventually marrying Cruise to form a formidable Hollywood power couple.
Once her foot was in the door, it was impossible for the industry to forget Kidman, dominating the 1990s with roles in Gus Van Sant’s To Die For, Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever and Stanley Kurbick’s Eyes Wide Shut. It wouldn’t take too long for the actor to attract the eyes of the Academy either, earning her very first Oscar nomination just after the turn of the new millennium thanks to her role in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge.
The following year, Kidman received her very first Oscar win, rightfully claiming the trophy for her performance in Stephen Daldry’s The Hours. To date, it’s the only Oscar Kidman has ever won, but if fortune had worked out a little differently, she could have won another if she’d agreed to star in The Reader six years later.
Earning five nominations at the 2009 Academy Awards, The Reader walked away with just one win, with Kate Winslet claiming the Oscar for ‘Best Leading Actress’. Kidman was originally supposed to play the role, however, and only walked away from the project due to the fact that she was pregnant with her first child.
She later reflected on this decision while promoting 2014’s Grace of Monaco, revealing: “The way I work, it would penetrate my baby. I got pregnant and I was meant to do The Reader. And they said, ‘Oh can you still do it?’ But I cannot work pregnant…I know now what I probably didn’t know in my 20s. I would absolutely know now that I would always choose the sanctity and sacredness of my family, and if that was ever in jeopardy, no question”.
Take a look at the trailer for the eventual Oscar-winner below, with Kate Winslet giving one of the very best performances of her remarkable career.
