At 51, Nicole Kidman is riding high professionally and personally. In an Australian Women’s Weekly exclusive, Juliet Rieden talks to the acting icon about the turning points in her life and career and asks her closest friends what makes Nicole tick.
Ask Nicole Kidman’s friends to describe her in just three words and a fascinating picture starts to build. She’s “mischievous, curious and compassionate. Funny as hell, brave, smart and intensely loyal.” She’s “daring, dedicated, original, intelligent and a courageous risk-taker”. She’s “honest, loving and quirky … charming, radiant, playful”. She “loves to party” and, jokes fellow Australian actress Naomi Watts, she’s “tall!”
It’s an impressive word storm of epithets that offers a telling glimpse of the real Nicole; the intense, passionate and fun-loving woman behind the red-carpet glamour and the insane background babble of frustratingly inaccurate tabloid gossip.
Most of those I spoke to are people who have known Nicole since the early days, through the best and worst of times: actors Russell Crowe, Naomi Watts, Hugh Jackman, and Deborra-Lee Furness; Kiwi film-maker Jane Campion, Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann and writer Kathy Lette. And then there are friends who Nicole has worked with along the way and stayed close to, such as British director Stephen Daldry and her co-star and collaborator in Big Little Lies Reese Witherspoon, with whom she stars in the highly-anticipated second series starting next month. What’s conspicuous is that everyone is eager to talk about Nicole and all have their own special moments to impart.
This story is from the June 2019 edition of Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
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This story is from the June 2019 edition of Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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