Nicole Kidman

Since his intense role inAll for a dream , his security in the face of any challenge with the cameras has only consolidated a surrendered magnetism on the screen. Currently she is given a much higher tribute than other actresses, and that is that her elegant presence subjugates and shakes, attracts and scares. Like a goddess. That amazing security that she shows in her films is born from familiarity, from the enormous knowledge of the terrain that she treads on. Nicole is not a profiteer, a winning number in the Hollywood lottery, nor is she someone who achieved her dream thanks to more or less lawful tricks. Not even remotely. Her vocation is one of those that is carried in her blood and proof of this is that she exercised it almost when she began to walk in this world.

Nicole Marie Kidman was born in Hawaii on June 20, 1967. She moved to Washington very soon and at the age of four settled permanently in Australia. There she lived a comfortable childhood, together with her father Anthony (biochemist and psychologist), her mother Janelle (nurse) and her sister Antonia, three years her junior. Her artistic precocity scares her: at the age of three she attended a ballet school, at eight she received mime classes and at ten she began to receive dramatic art lessons. Her parents gave her the freedom to dedicate herself to those tasks, since little Nic showed a strong and imperious character. However, her almost albino appearance and her curly red hair kept her from starring roles, although the worst was her when at the age of thirteen she reached 1.72 cm in height. Weekends were spent witnessing the atmosphere at the Phillip Theater in Sydney: “I hardly moved from there. He was fantastic, despite the teasing I had to put up with for preferring him to going to the beach with the other boys and girls my age.” There she entered, already determined to be an actress. Her abilities began to be recognized, to the point that one of her most advanced students promised her a role when she was director. The girl in question was calledJane Campion and in time that promised role would be that of Isabel Archer inPortrait of a Lady (1996). Her artistic training then continued at The Australian Theater for Young People and then at St. Martin’s Youth Theatre. In 1983, at the age of 16, she made her television debut with Bus Christmas , which was followed by other small-screen work. In 1988 the Australian Film Institute awarded her the award for best actress for the Vietnam series . That was her passport to her cinema, since the following year Philip Noyce would recruit her for the thrillerComplete calm . Her interpretation convinced Hollywood producers. She then met Tom Cruise and did not hesitate to do withDAYS OF THUNDER (1990). But Tom was very much Tom, and he got more from her than a movie deal. They married on December 24 of that same year.

After the wedding, the actress was getting richer and more varied roles. She cultivated the drama:Malice (1993),My life (1993); period films: Portrait of a Lady (1996); the more or less sophisticated comedy:A very distant horizon (1992),Batman Forever (1995); and even full-throttle action withThe Peacemaker (1997). But in those years the star role of her was offered by Gus Van Sant with the wonderful Todo por un sueño (1995), where the actress showed her enormous acting power.

Its definitive bell did not arrive, however, until the new millennium. Her sad divorce from Tom Cruise (and blah blah blah) would be accompanied by impressive achievements in the professional field. The controversyEyes Wide Shut (1999), the claustrophobicThe others (2001) and the great and unclassifiableMoulin Rouge (2001) have shown their immense variety of registers. Now, when it still has to be releasedDogville , by Lars von Trier , andThe hours , where she plays the mythical writer Virginia Wolf, no one doubts that Kidman has become a movie icon. And who said that dreams do not come true?