Nicole Kidman

Modesty prevails

2008-06-27T23:56:00.000-07:00

"IT'S AN awful era in a sense because it's the age of narcissism. It's probably worse than global warming," says Murray Bail, leaning over his macchiato with theatrical gloom. "It must have something to do with the flood through every part of society of popular culture, of film, photography, television and performance. All this 'look at me' stuff. People don't read as much, they can't write; you get film stars giving their views on everything. It's quite serious but nothing can be done about it. As soon as you complain you look like an antique."

Bail is the antithesis of narcissism. He once walked off the stage during a session at Adelaide Writers' Week. ("I wouldn't do that now; I've got better manners. I wouldn't be there in the first place.") He recently installed an answering machine at his Potts Point apartment but it has no message, so the caller hears a long, disconcerting silence and a beep.

If he could avoid this interview he would but, having agreed, he creeps across Macleay Street, a mixture of urban dude and downcast Eeyore in a grey suit, black suede shoes and sunglasses. Curled into a booth in a French bistro, he will talk for the next five hours. He is, once started, an erudite and amusing companion, a droll storyteller and an attentive gossip.

His slim yet intricate new novel, The Pages, is in part an argument against narcissism. It is ostensibly the story of Wesley Antill, an enigmatic philosopher who has died leaving his work-in-progress in a shed on his family's property in western NSW. Hoping to discover his genius, his brother and sister invite Erica, an academic philosopher, to assess the scattered papers. For company Erica brings Sophie, a psychoanalyst at the end of an affair with a married man. Two women in their 40s, they represent different ways of viewing life and making both a success and a mess of it.

This is Bail's first novel since Eucalyptus, which came out 10 years ago in more than 20 countries, sold more than 100,000 copies in Australia, was a New York Times notable book and won the Miles Franklin Award, the ASAL Gold Medal for Literature and the Commonwealth Writers Prize. It almost became a film starring Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman (and there are hints it could be revived, without Kidman, if Baz Luhrmann's Australia proves popular).

Eucalyptus had universal appeal, Bail says, because of its mythological, Shakespearean premise: a grazier who challenges the suitors of his 19-year-old daughter to name every gumtree on his property and the young man who conjures a tale from each one. The new novel is less obviously myth-based but still uses archetypal characters. "It's very dangerous to disobey archetypes in art; it's so deep-structured in us," Bail says.

Nicole Kidman and Ann Kagawa Lee

2008-06-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

Attorney Ann Kagawa Lee made it to the finals of the Charmin-sponsored Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest! Encouraged to enter by a friend, it took Ann two weeks and four rolls of toilet paper . The final judging took place at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum last week in New York City, where Ann placed third. Her dress will soon be on display at the Ripley museum in Korea ...

What a party...last week’s grand opening of The Mala Wailea Restaurant at Wailea Beach Marriott Hotel - a benefit for the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. I had a blast - greeted by hosts Shep Gordon, Mark Ellman and Alice Cooper, with surprise sommelier Mick Fleetwood pouring his wonderful wines (including my personal fave, his Cabernet Sauvignon.

And the food! The surprise of the night came when Alice joined Maui’s top party band, Dr. Nat & Rio Ritmo, and sang No More Mr. Nice Guy. And then super drummer Mick Fleetwood joined Alice and the band performing Satisfaction, followed by a killer rendition of Sympathy For The Devil. Opening restaurant parties in Hawaii don’t get any better. Mala is getting rave reaction. Recent dinner guests include Dennis Quaid, Pierce Brosnan, Virginia Madsen and Slash …

Speaking of Dennis Quaid, he had quite a joyous Father’s Day with wife Kimberly Buffington and their adorable 7-month-old twins Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace. The twins have fully recovered from their well-publicized near-fatal medical mixup last November…

Nicole Kidman turns 41! Kidman, born June 20, 1967, in Honolulu, spent her first three years here before moving to Sydney…

Former Oldies 107.9 program director and morning drive DJ John Matthews left Hawaii to join lovely wife Jocelyn in St. Louis where she’s studying for her law degree. He’s just been named P.D. of the St. Louis Rams’flag-ship station 103.3 KLOU FM. Hawaii fans can hear him via internet “http://1033.com/” weekdays from 3-7 p.m....

Keith Urban serenades Nicole Kidman on her birthday

2008-06-24T06:36:00.000-07:00

Keith Urban surprised pregnant wife Nicole Kidman with a special rendition of Happy Birthday at a gig over the weekend.

The country star was performing at the Chicago Soldier Field Stadium on Saturday when he broke into the song. Nicole turned 41 on Friday.

And Keith, 40, even got the crowd to join in.

‘It would be nice to have 50,000 people sing Happy Birthday,’ he told fans.

A smiling Nicole expressed her gratitude by blowing a kiss to the audience.

Peta Hellard: Nicole Kidman celebrates ahead of birth

2008-06-24T06:22:00.000-07:00

AS she awaits the birth of her first baby next month, Nicole Kidman has had another reason to celebrate.

The eight-months-pregnant Oscar-winner, who has two adopted children with ex-husband Tom Cruise, yesterday celebrated her 41st birthday.

Kidman - who is believed to have spent her birthday at her rural property outside Nashville in Tennessee - reportedly received a present from Cruise's new wife Katie Holmes.

US reports yesterday said Holmes, 29, had shipped the Moulin Rouge star a deluxe gift basket from luxury Beverly Hills department store Neiman Marcus, one of Kidman's regular shopping haunts.

Kidman and her country music husband Keith Urban have another milestone to celebrate ahead of their baby's arrival: the couple will have their second wedding anniversary on June 25.

US magazine People quoted a friend of Kidman's saying the willowy screen star was enjoying a leisurely last few weeks in Nashville while she awaited the birth of her child.

"She's never been happier or healthier,'' the friend said.

"She is absolutely radiant and enjoying nesting and home-making with Keith at their new home in Nashville. They are so relaxed.''

Kidman is tipped to give birth in Tennessee or Los Angeles, where the couple also have a home. The new arrival is expected to attract a swarm of paparazzi.

Friend: Kidman happy with Nashville life

2008-06-23T05:55:00.000-07:00

NASHVILLE, June 21 (UPI) -- Actress Nicole Kidman, who just turned 41, is very happy with her pregnancy and her new life in Nashville, a friend says.

The unidentified friend said the actress, who celebrated her birthday Friday, is eagerly anticipating the birth of her first child with country music singer Keith Urban, People magazine reported.

"She's never been happier or healthier," the friend says. "She is absolutely radiant and enjoying nesting and homemaking with Keith at their new home in Nashville."

They are so relaxed," the friend added regarding the expectant couple.

Meanwhile, a source said Kidman appeared to be "very happy" while attending a Broadway performance of "August: Osage County" last week with the 40-year-old singer.

"Nicole is always very gracious, and she doesn't run from people," the anonymous source said of the "Moulin Rouge" actress. "She looked wonderful, and they seemed very happy."

Mother of all roles - Nicole Kidman interview

2008-06-23T05:51:00.000-07:00

Nicole Kidman. After the heartache of her divorce from Tom Cruise, an ectopic pregnancy and a miscarriage, Nicole Kidman just can't wait for her happy ever after At a distance, Nicole Kidman looks like one of those exquisitely delicate women in the Romantic style of myth and legend, but up close she's an Australian who has always put her cards squarely on the table, enjoys a good laugh and seems to be one of the gang.

She is 41, having celebrated her birthday last Friday, and has, in recent years, had a lot of unwelcome attention. There was all the hullabaloo about her divorce from Tom Cruise in 2001, a much-publicised ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage, her supposed romances with actor Russell Crowe, singer Lenny Kravitz and producer Steve Bing, the persistent rumours about her weight and being too thin even before pregnancy (which she puts down to hard work), and sceptical comments about the likely longevity of her marriage to country-music star Keith Urban.

The latest – and biggest – news, however, has been the impending birth of Kidman and Urban's first baby together, which is due next month. Much of the comment has centred on how she has kept her physique during the pregnancy.

Some people were alarmed that for most of the pregnancy she kept her stick-thin figure and wondered if she was wise to do so. She says she's stuck to a strenuous training regime, sweating it out at the gym in a plain white T-shirt and black leggings, being put her through her paces by her fitness guru and practising yoga at home with her instructor.

She certainly doesn't seem to have put on any surplus weight. "I'm so happy, I couldn't ask for anything – except bigger boobs," she joked. "I've wanted curves my whole life. I eat all the time but I don't change because of my physical make-up. I was even more scrawny as a kid."

Although her physical appearance has been largely unchanged during this pregnancy, except for her neat bump, motherhood in general has changed her a lot, she says. "I am somebody who is attracted to dangerous things. It is something I have to fight in myself, especially now that I've got the kids. I'm a fanatical sport freak. I love being able to use my body in that way and used to do things like sky-diving rather than hiking which was definitely more sensible."

Her older children, Isabella, 14, and Connor, 12, both adopted during her marriage to Cruise, grew up mainly in London, LA and Australia. She has joint custody of them with Cruise, who also has a daughter, Suri, with actress Katie Holmes.

Kidman admits openly she has always yearned to have her own child. "I would be very sad if I wasn't able to have a baby. I am very close to my own family and I want my kids to have an Australian identity as well as an American one.

"It's interesting, as an actor, to raise kids because you set up home wherever you're working, almost always in a transitional period. It's crazy when you're all togged up in a glamorous costume and you're fixing a snack for the kids in your trailer or helping them with their homework."

Kidman talks at breakneck speed, and her cool exterior often cracks as she breaks into a fit of giggles – she's a lady in a rush. With her frank and straightforward gaze, she genuinely seems interested in other people, what they have to say and how they're doing.

She says their real home is the house in Sydney – "where our furniture is" – with its floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, surfaces sprinkled with snapshots of her wedding and her children, and gorgeous views of the boats on Double Bay.

The couple also have a 1960s mansion in Brentwood, Los Angeles, close to her friend, the Australian actress Naomi Watts, and a ranch in Nashville, Tennessee, which she says is her "escape". "We lie low there," says Kidman. "We just have our own little bubble that we exist in. And I can completely disappear. I'm really good at it and I don't need much.

"Divorce from Tom was hell but it made me grow up. After the divorce, I did many things that interested me, as I was single and had been through a period of my life when I wasn't able to move around as much and explore, so I was able to 'catch up'."

She met Urban, also born in 1967, at an Australian promotional event in Los Angeles in January 2005. She says it wasn't as though the earth shook, but within months they were dating. After he had proposed, she introduced him to Isabella and Connor, and by February 2006 they were engaged. That June they had a fairy-tale wedding in front of 200 friends and relatives in Sydney.

Since then, there have been ups and downs – four months after their marriage, Urban checked into the Betty Ford Centre for 90 days' worth of rehab for alcohol abuse – but their life seems to have settled down well. Urban surprised Kidman with a romantic fireworks display for her 40th birthday and she says they are still very much in love. "I think we were two lonely people, who managed to meet at a time when we could open ourselves to each other. We were a mixture of frightened and brave," she says.

"Since getting married, I've 'passed' on things, cleared my schedule. I do not want to be living my life away from the person I love. I think I've settled into enjoying my life. I'm happy and I'm content."

Born in Hawaii to Australian Catholic parents – her father, a professor of biochemistry, was studying there in the 1960s – when her parents moved back to Sydney, little Nicole Mary got hooked on the theatre at school. Aged six, she upstaged baby Jesus in a nativity play, playing a sheep clad in car-seat covers. Aged ten she was sent to drama school and she started working in film at 14. Three years later she was voted Best Actress of the Year by the Australian public for the TV mini-series Vietnam, which was followed shortly afterwards by Bangkok Hilton, in which she starred opposite Denholm Elliott, and in 1989 she made her international breakthrough in the sailing thriller Dead Calm.

She has had a hugely successful career of three dozen films, including Moulin Rouge, The Hours (for which she won a Best Actress Oscar), Cold Mountain, The Golden Compass and Margot at the Wedding. She is also a singer, a goodwill ambassador for Unicef and Unifem (UN Development Fund for Women) and the recipient of Australia's highest civilian honour, the Companion of the Order of Australia.

"I flinch at the word 'career,' she says, "because acting is all about your emotions. I love what I do. It is not a job. I never think about taking a role in relation to who I am, to who Nicole is," she muses. "That would not be pure, artistically. I don't know whether that's my biggest strength or weakness.

"I adore this job but it certainly takes its toll," she continues. "I think that making a film is like a boxing match – you have to take the punches and you can easily fall. I plan to slowly dwindle away, bring the train to a halt, when the time comes. I am not sure when the resources are going to run out in terms of what I have to offer.

"The life I lead is a burn-out life," she says, rearranging legs that are too long for the sofa. "From cracked ribs (in Moulin Rouge) to freezing in Romania (Cold Mountain) and being hospitalised after a car chase went wrong (Invasion). You have to step away from it because you are required to give so much of yourself to do it well. I don't mind stepping away when I need to and going to ground. Or doing a comedy to re-stoke.

"I hate the interest in celebrities that comes with it. Being recognised is part of the territory. I was a kid who waited to see Abba. And I have been in that position. I remember also being taken to the set of The Year of Living Dangerously by a production designer friend of ours. I saw Mel Gibson from afar and I shrieked: 'He looked at me!' He has no recollection – I was about ten.

"I try to make contact and go over and shake someone's hand. I think it is important to remember where you are at, and where you come from, so you never get trapped in the world you work in. I have tried to not court celebrity.

"In New York I go around without an 'entourage'. I am always with my kids, walk quickly, with my hair pulled back, and I can make myself invisible. I do most things. I go to the cinema with my kids just like any other member of the public. We love all going away to have a bit of an adventure together, away from the bright lights.

"When I was single and bringing up my two older children I tended to take one day at a time. As a single parent, I think you do your best and hope it will be good enough. And you know something? I found that usually it is good enough.

"As a kid I hated any sort of unconventional stuff because you want to conform. I was embarrassed by it. I was not one of those kids that wanted to stand out. I was 5ft 10in when I was 11 years old and had the awful nickname of 'Storky'. I was also white as a sheet in bronzed surfer paradise Australia.

"I didn't need any more humiliation, such as my feminist mother. But my kids seem incredibly willing and easy about it all. They don't seem to give a damn about what I do."

Despite her childhood embarrassment at her mother Janelle's interests and activities, Kidman has taken up some of the causes dearest to her heart. It was Janelle Kidman who drew her attention to Cambodia, where a United Nations project was underway to revive silk weaving, offering women economic independence. After a meeting with the executive director of Unifem, dedicated to advancing women's rights and achieving gender equality around the world, Kidman became a Unifem goodwill ambassador, concentrating on raising awareness of violence against women.

She has said she was attracted to Unifem because its programmes were "solution-based" and because, as a child, she would accompany her mother to the hospital where she saw people who were suffering, which "leaves a powerful imprint on your psyche".

"Obviously, I'm emotionally connected to this," Kidman says of her Unifem role. "I think it's very important. At the same time, I'm a mother. I have a child on the way… and a lot of it is realising the things that are wrong and what I can contribute to help my children have a better life, and to help other children around the world have a better life.

"I believe if people are given the information, most of them will say, 'I had no idea – what can I do to help?' Awareness is just the first step."

Kidman has continued supporting the project throughout her pregnancy and the issues will always remain close to her heart. However, in these last stages of her pregnancy, she is looking forward to more family time together. "When I get older, I am going to veer in the direction of hedonism and live somewhere like Tuscany, surrounded by my grandchildren, and rest and dance and eat and drink and read and sit up over big home-cooked meals, talking late into the night in different languages. I want to age gracefully and naturally."

Speaking of ageing gracefully, she denies she has ever gone under the knife or that her famous porcelain skin has ever encountered so much as a single botox needle. "To be honest, I am completely natural," Kidman has said. "I have nothing in my face or anything. I wear sunscreen, and I don't smoke. I take care of myself. I'm proud to say that."

The closest thing to plastic surgery Kidman has undergone is laser eye correction. Her sight was so bad that she "was walking around legally blind''. "I don't judge those who have had treatments. Anybody can do anything to their bodies. I'm just lucky that I get to change my looks in every film and get paid to do so! I love being an actor – that is my commitment and my passion. But there are other things I want to do in life, so many that to list them all would be trivial," she says.

"As an actor I think you suffer from burnout after a time because you give so much of yourself. I look at it as something that will finish in its own time. It wouldn't be, 'Oh, now I am suddenly going to quit.' It will just slowly just dwindle away…"

She purses her rosebud lips, adding: "I will make more films in Australia, like the new Baz (Moulin Rouge) Luhrmann-directed film called Australia which I made while Keith was away touring. It is set in the remote Northern Territory during the Japanese attack on Darwin during World War II. I play an English woman feeling overwhelmed by the continent.

"But I'd also like to learn Russian so one day I could play Chekhov's Uncle Vanya on stage." She giggles. "I can see the critics already dipping their pens in vitriol!"

Right now, though, babies are her focus and she hopes that she will be able to have more. "Keith and I would really love to have a big family," she says, "but I am so happy right now I couldn't ask for anything more."

Kidman's leading men

Tom Cruise

Cruise first spotted Kidman in the thriller Dead Calm, and in 1989 asked her to play his leading lady in the car-racing movie, Days of Thunder. He invited her to a casting session where sparks flew, followed by a ten-year marriage, two adopted children and joint film projects, before the couple's high-profile divorce in 2001.

Robbie Williams

Kidman was said to have found new love with the singer after her divorce from Cruise. The couple bonded during the recording of their duet, Something Stupid and the single proved a smart move for both stars, becoming the UK Christmas number one. But while they may have finished the year on top, single mum Kidman returned home to Sydney with the kids for New Year's Eve.

Jude Law

Overblown American Civil War drama Cold Mountain got a huge boost from the (false) rumours of love between Law and Kidman in 2004. British tabloids printed pictures of the pair together during filming, proving that an off-screen affair can be a publicist's dream. While it did their careers no end of good, Law's marriage to Sadie Frost suffered and later ended in divorce after an affair with their nanny.

Lenny Kravitz

Kidman was romantically linked with the rock Lothario in 2004. When Kidman wore a diamond sparkler on her engagement finger, speculation followed but both parties denied a romance. Kidman went on to marry Keith Urban in June 2006, while Kravitz has since taken a vow of celibacy.

Nicole Kidman gets surprise gift from Katie Holmes

2008-06-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

Nicole Kidman. AS she awaits next month's stork arrival, Nicole Kidman has plenty of reasons to smile, including a big surprise birthday present from her ex Tom Cruise's wife, Katie.

The Oscar-winner celebrated her 41st birthday at the weekend at her rural property outside Nashville in Tennessee, with a present from an unlikely giver.

US reports said Katie Holmes, married to Kidman's ex Tom Cruise, shipped the star a deluxe gift basket from luxury department store Neiman Marcus, one of Kidman's regular shopping haunts.

Kidman and her country muso hubby Keith Urban have another milestone before their bub's arrival -- their second wedding anniversary on Wednesday.

Kidman is enjoying a leisurely last few weeks in Nashville before the birth. "She's never been happier or healthier," a friend said. "She is absolutely radiant."

Nicole Kidman in talks for 'Nine'

2008-04-16T06:50:00.000-07:00

Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman is considering a big-screen singing role in a new musical flick titled 'Nine'.

The new film is an adaptation of the Tony award-winning Broadway musical that was also based on Federico Fellini's Eight and a Half.

The film will be directed by Rob Marshall of the 'Chicago' fame, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Actor Javier Bardem will be seen playing the central character, a film director juggling the demands of the several women in his life.

The list of actors also includes Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard. The shoot is expected to begin in September.

Nicole Kidman's Morning Moan

2008-04-16T06:46:00.000-07:00

Nicole Kidman is suffering from terrible morning sickness.

The Oscar-winning actress - who is expecting her first baby with husband Keith Urban - has had stomach troubles throughout her pregnancy but says everything else is going to plan.

She told US TV show 'Access Hollywood': "I've had severe morning sickness but apart from that I'm good actually, really good."

However, Nicole, 40, is preparing herself for the worst for the last few months of pregnancy, after being warned by friends.

The 'Moulin Rouge' star - who is due to give birth in July - said: "I'm waiting for the third trimester. Everyone says that is hard work."

Nicole already has two adopted children, Isabella, 15, and 13-year-old Connor, with ex-husband Tom Cruise.

She had made no secret of her desire to have a child with Keith.

She previously said: "I love babies. I would say it's in God's hands. If God wills it, it will happen, right?"

Nicole and Keith met at a black-tie ball for Australians living in Los Angeles in summer 2005. In April of that year, Nicole said: "I have got hormones running through my system. That is why I sit wriggling, saying I want to have a baby."

NICOLE KIDMAN - REPORT - KIDMAN'S TRAINER ATTACKS PAPARAZZO

2008-03-30T01:08:00.002-07:00

NICOLE KIDMAN's trainer and assistant has hit the headlines after allegedly beating up a paparazzo in Santa Monica, California. Flynet.com photographer Jeremy needed medical attention after his violent encounter with David Garris on Thursday (13Mar08), which was partially caught on video. In the footage, which has been posted online, the trainer is seen approaching Jeremy's vehicle and attacking the photographer through the window.

The video footage then ends but the audio captures the snapper's outrage and anguish as Garris allegedly lashes out at him, raging, "You can't f**king chase me, you're f**king with me... I'm f**king sick of you guys." Jeremy was trying to get pictures of pregnant Kidman and her trainer hiking when the attack took place. According to Flynet.com, the trainer reportedly briefly "stole" their photographer's camera. Photos of Jeremy's bruised and battered face after the attack are also featured on the Flynet website. According to the website, police are currently investigating the incident.

NICOLE KIDMAN - KIDMAN DROPS SCIENTOLOGY

2008-03-30T01:08:00.001-07:00

OSCAR-winning actress NICOLE KIDMAN has distanced herself from SCIENTOLOGY - her former husband TOM CRUISE's religion.

But according to JOHN TRAVOLTA's wife KELLY PRESTON - who is a committed Scientologist like her husband - Kidman used to love the controversial creed.

Kelly says, "Actually when I knew Nicole she seemed to think there was nothing better than Scientology.

"She was, like, 'This is the greatest thing ever.'"

But Kelly notes that since Cruise and Kidman's 2001 split, Nicole has not kept their friendship.

She adds, "Well, I haven't seen her for a long, long time. I see Tom, but not her as much."

NICOLE KIDMAN - NANNY EXPOSES CRUISE AND KIDMAN FAMILY SECRETS

2008-03-30T01:06:00.001-07:00

Celebrity nanny SUZANNE HANSEN has slammed NICOLE KIDMAN's mothering skills in her controversial new book.

Hansen claims she never saw the MOULIN ROUGE! actress around her adopted kids when she worked in Hollywood for celebrity couples.

In tell-all book YOU'LL NEVER NANNY IN THIS TOWN AGAIN, Hansen alleges Kidman played only a small part in raising her children CONOR and ISABELLA.

Hansen tells PageSix.com, "I never saw her (with her children)."

Hansen also alleges Cruise drew up strict confidentiality guidelines for the child minders he hired, so they would never be able to contradict claims he made about his own fathering skills.

She adds, "Tom would make his nannies sign confidentiality agreements that were so strict, they couldn't even say for whom they were working.

"So basically, if (Cruise) went on camera and said how he didn't have any help raising his children, they couldn't say anything."

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban: Easter family reunion in Sydney

2008-03-30T01:02:00.000-07:00

After a quick stop at her waterfront Darling Point home, Nicole Kidman keeps a tight hold on hubby Keith Urban as they visit relatives on Easter Sunday.

"Easter is very important to me and spending Easter with my parents at home is a special treat," Nicole told Australia's The Daily Telegraph.

The couple also visited Nicole's sister, Antonia, who has just given birth to her fourth child, Sybella. As they left, the smiling couple stopped to admire a picture drawn by Nicole's niece, Lucia.

Nicole said, "It is important for me to be here with my family for Easter because I'm away so much ¨C and we¡¯re looking forward to meeting our new niece."

"When I was growing up my parents always made a special Easter lunch ¨C it was a big family occasion and it's wonderful I can share that experience with Keith now."

Sydney girl Nicole is in town to start work on Baz Luhrmann's new epic Australia co-starring Hugh Jackman, who arrived in Australia two weeks ago. Rehearsals for the movie begin tomorrow at Fox Studios. Filming in north Queensland starts later this month.

Nicole's publicist, Wendy Day, also recently denied pregnancy rumors: "She's looking forward to going outback and riding a horse and being here for seven months making a film.

Nicole Kidman’s Family-Filled Easter

2008-03-30T00:58:00.001-07:00

She has a hot, hunky County singer husband and a baby on the way. And Nicole Kidman couldn’t be happier with her family life.

The “Others” actress was spotted on her way to lunch with her parents, sister Antonia, niece Lucia and a young aboriginal boy this past Saturday in her native Australia.

Activity Nicole Kidman

2008-03-26T22:29:00.000-07:00

Strangely, given what most people know of her, Nicole is not a fair dinkum Aussie at all, actually being born on Honolulu, Hawaii (on the 20th of June, 1967), and holding dual US and Australian citizenship. Her father, Anthony, a biochemist and clinical psychologist, had moved to the island with his wife Janelle to work on a research project. Almost as soon as Nicole appeared (she'd be closely followed by sister, Antonia), Anthony's work with breast cancer took the family to Washington DC for three years. It was only then that the girl who would be known as one of Australia's prime exports began life on Antipodean soil, when the Kidmans moved back to the posh Longueville district of Sydney (coincidentally, one of Nicole's most renowned relatives was also named Sydney - he was a cattle baron).

Nicole was an active, artistic child, and focused from an absurdly young age. She began taking ballet lessons at 3, moving onto mime at 8 and drama at 10. Her first public role was at 6, as a loud sheep in her elementary school's Christmas pageant. She grew up fast. Janelle was an active feminist and Anthony a labour advocate, both of them discussing the issues of the day with their kids over dinner and having them hand out pamphlets on the street.

Katie Holmes: Nicole’s pregnancy

2008-01-21T03:17:00.000-08:00

Katie Holmes only had well wishes for Nicole Kidman Wednesday night at the Los Angeles premiere of her new film Mad Money.

“I’m so happy for her,” Holmes, 29, says of Kidman’s pregnancy news. “It’s wonderful.”

Kidman, 40, confirmed earlier this week that she and husband Keith Urban are expecting their first child together. The actress has two adopted children – Connor, 12, and Isabella, 15 – with ex-husband Tom Cruise (who’s now, of course, married to Holmes).

Cruise escorted Holmes – in a dazzling strapless Armani dress – to her premiere, but made sure not to steal the spotlight from his wife. Instead he let her work the press solo while he walked across the street to sign autographs and take photos with fans.

The actor was similarly supportive during the making of Mad Money, Holmes said.

“Having [20-month-old daughter] Suri and Tom [on set] was wonderful,” she added. “You think you love to do something and then you have the people you love there. It makes it a billion times better and you didn’t realize you were missing that before. It’s like ‘Oh my God, life can be this good.’”

Katie Holmes 'so happy' about Nicole Kidman's pregnancy

2008-01-21T03:15:00.000-08:00

One person who is thrilled about by Nicole Kidman's announcement that she is pregnant is Katie Holmes.

Holmes, who is married to the Aussie actress' ex hubby Tom Cruise, was questioned by reporters at the premiere of her new movie "Mad Money" about her feelings on Kidman's pregnancy.

To this Holmes replied that she was thrilled for Kidman.

"I'm so happy for her. It's wonderful!" Usmagazine.com quoted Holmes, as saying.

Holmes' comments just might get her into Kidman's good books once again, for reports have been circulating that alls not well between the two women.

And the cause of their strained relationship is said to have been caused by Holmes' gushing that Tom and Nicole's adopted children Isabella and Connor call her "mom."

Just days before Kidman had admitted that her kids didn't call her mom but by her first name.

Nicole Kidman considered becoming a nun after she split from Tom Cruise, it has been claimed

2008-01-21T03:08:00.000-08:00

The Oscar-winning actress, whose 10-year marriage to Tom ended in 2001, was reportedly left so heartbroken she researched into joining a Catholic order that accepted divorced women.

The claims are made in British author Andrew Morton's new book, Tom Cruise: An Unauthorised Biography.

Morton claims: "Nicole considered nunneries in Australia that would admit women who had been married."

The writer, who also alleges the Church of Scientology was responsible for Nicole and Tom's divorce and claims Tom is second in command of the bizarre sci-fi cult, has defended his controversial tome.

Morton - who has penned a biography on the late Princess Diana - said: "I've got a reputation as a very careful biographer. I have spent over two years carefully researching this book. I asked Tom for an interview and he declined.

"Nicole started to pull away from Scientology. That sent alarm bells ringing inside the religion.

"Scientology would be a shadow of what it is today if it had not been for the involvement of Tom Cruise. More than that, he's been the frontman for the organisation."

Nicole Kidman Getting Boring

2008-01-18T01:25:00.000-08:00

If it seems as if Nicole Kidman has amped up her acting challenges in the past few years, it's no accident. "For 10 years my marriage defined me far more strongly than my work," she says of her union with Tom Cruise. "I wasn't choosing movies for any other reason than dabbling here and there because I thought, Oh, well, I want to keep my hand in." Rarely did a woman depart the dilettante lounge with as much resolve as she. Kidman's postmarital roles have included a clinically depressed writer (Virginia Woolf in The Hours for which she won an Oscar), an abused cleaning lady recovering from the death of her children (The Human Stain), a woman barely getting by during the Civil War (Cold Mountain) and a fugitive victimized by nasty townspeople in the West (Dogville). Sometimes unhappiness is its own reward.

These days Kidman has so many awards and accolades, it's getting boring. But she isn't. She has the ability, like a glass bullet, to carry fragility and force, to be beautiful and a little unnerving. While her work reeks of an almost clinical precision, Kidman's approach is fallible and inexact. "I just feel my way through," she says. "If I had to give an acting class, I wouldn't know what to do."

Though her post-Oscar movies have not been big hits, her new willingness to experiment is being noticed. She gets labeled an ice queen but is more daring than any of her contemporaries of similar box-office clout. Can you see Julia Roberts making a movie as limited in its appeal as Dogville? Kidman is not the first star to play down her beauty for a role, but her bold choices have set a new bar for Hollywood actresses. And now as a producer (In the Cut), she's creating juicy roles for more of them.

She has helped redeem a country too. Sometimes, in a world shared with Rupert Murdoch, the Crocodile Hunter and the Wiggles, it's hard to be Australian--as if the country is full of curios and barbarians. Kidman is Australia's best evidence of passion and sophistication, though she doesn't see it. "Really?" she says. "Oh, I'd like to think I have a sliver of vulgarity." --By Belinda Luscombe

Michael Perry: Nicole Kidman in a family way

2008-01-18T01:24:00.000-08:00

SYDNEY — Oscar-winning Australian actress Nicole Kidman is pregnant and has pulled out of shooting her next film “The Reader” with her baby expected around mid-2008. “Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban confirmed today that they are expecting a baby,” Kidman publicist Wendy Day said in a statement released on Tuesday. “The couple are thrilled.

Kate Winslet and Nicole Kidman

2008-01-18T01:19:00.000-08:00

Kate Winslet Replaces Pregnant Nicole Kidman In Film?
Kate Winslet has replaced Nicole Kidman in World War II drama "The Reader," after the pregnant Australian actress pulled out of the project. Kidman on Monday confirmed she is expecting a baby with her husband Keith Urban.

She was due to start shooting the adaptation of German author Bernhard Schlink's book with director Stephen Daldry later this month, but withdrew from the movie after learning of her pregnancy.

And now Winslet, who was originally offered the role but had to decline because the shoot clashed with her commitments to upcoming film Revolutionary Road, has now signed up to star in "The Reader" opposite Ralph Fiennes.

Beauty Nicole Kidman to be Citezen of the World

2008-01-18T01:14:00.000-08:00

MOULIN ROUGE! Beauty Nicole Kidman will reportedly be named Citizen of the World by the United Nation next month.

Nicole Kidman
The OSCAR-winning actress will receive the prestigious award from Secretary-General Kofi Annan, for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of the UN.

Kidman dazzled UN officials earlier this year when she and co-star Sean Penn mingled with them during breaks from their movie The Interpreter, which was filmed at the UN headquarters in New York.

The World film Premiere of The Golden Compass

2008-01-18T01:08:00.001-08:00

Tags: andy serkis, dakota blue richards, daniel craig, eva green, film, golden compass, his dark materials, lyra, nicole kidman, northern lights, philip pullman, sam elliot, world premiere (What's this)
THE stars were shining at the eagerly awaited World film Premiere of The Golden Compass, adapted from the bestselling Philip Pullman novel. See our picture gallery from the red carpet.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban

2008-01-18T00:57:00.001-08:00

LOS ANGELES — Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are expecting their first child together.

The news was announced Monday by Kidman's publicist, Catherine Olim. It was also posted on Urban's Web site.

"The couple are thrilled," Olim said.

Kidman and Urban are in Sydney, Australia, where the 40-year-old actress has been working on Baz Luhrmann's epic romance, "Australia."

She was due to start filming for Stephen Daldry's post-World War II drama, "The Reader," later this month, but her Australian publicist, Wendy Day, said she understands Kidman has withdrawn from the movie because of her pregnancy.

A call to the Weinstein Co., which is producing "The Reader," wasn't immediately returned.

Speculation had been increasing in recent weeks over Kidman's maternal condition.

"For years I've seen speculation and for years it's never been right, so I didn't think it was right this time," Day said. "And then she's just rung this morning."

Urban, a Grammy-winning singer and guitarist raised in Australia, and Kidman were married in June 2006.

Kidman has two children, Isabella, 14, and Connor, 12, from her marriage to Tom Cruise. They divorced in 2001.

She recently told Vanity Fair magazine she had a miscarriage early in her relationship with Cruise, leading them to adopt.

"I feel enormous love for whoever my children's birthparents are," Kidman told Ladies' Home Journal in 2006. "And if my children choose to go find them at some stage, I can't wait. Because -- it's the weirdest thing -- I actually feel (they're) very connected to us as a big, strange family, and whether they choose to search for them or not, who knows."

Cruise married Katie Holmes in November 2006, seven months after the birth of their daughter, Suri.

Nicole Kidman’s Hamptons Share

2008-01-18T00:55:00.000-08:00

Nicole Kidman has a habit of switching between studio flicks and more-indie fare. This fall, she kicks off New Line’s new fantasy trilogy with The Golden Compass—and stars in Noah Baumbach’s dysfunctional family drama Margot at the Wedding as Margot, none too happy with her sister’s choice of fiancé (Jack Black).

So, what’s up with Margot?
She’s having a breakdown, and with that comes an anger and an acerbic wit. I wanted the pain to bleed through her. She’s trying to put Band-Aids over her wounds, but I want you to see the blood oozing out anyway. Sorry, but that’s my visual description of it.

Was it odd working with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Noah? It’s their first film together as a couple.
Well, they’re an amazing, creative couple, and it really is lovely when a director and an actress fall in love. But it’s tricky any time you form a triangle. When Tom [Cruise] and I worked with Stanley [Kubrick], I remember Stanley saying “Triangles are hard.”

You play Jennifer’s older sister. How did you two connect?
Jennifer has stayed so true to her artistic nature. She’s just so beautifully fine. We’d lie around in the bed, rehearsing.

In bed?
Yes. We all lived in this house in the Hamptons. Jennifer would cook breakfast on Sunday, and we’d all go to work Monday to Friday, and hang out on the weekend. Jack would play guitar. You don’t make films like that right now—it’s more a seventies way of making films.

In the trailer, Jennifer’s character says that Margot once tried to bake her in the oven, with paprika. Is their relationship anything like yours with your sister?
It’s the complete opposite. My sister and I are the warmest, twinlike sisters, and she is my closest, closest confidante. You cannot penetrate our world.

Biography Nicole Kidman

2008-01-06T01:20:00.000-08:00

From All Movie Guide: Once relegated to decorative parts for years and long acknowledged as the wife of Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman spent the latter half of the 1990s and the first decade of the new millennium earning much-deserved critical respect. Standing a willowy 5'11" and sporting one of Hollywood's most distinctive heads of frizzy red hair, the Australian actress first entered the American mindset with her role opposite Cruise in Days of Thunder (1990), but it wasn't until she starred as a homicidal weather girl in Gus Van Sant's 1995 To Die For that she achieved recognition as a thespian of considerable range and talent.

Though many assume that the heavily-accented Kidman hails from down under, she was actually born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 20, 1967, to Australian parents. Her family, who lived on the island because of a research project that employed Kidman's biochemist father, then moved to Washington, D.C. for the next three years. After her father's project reached completion, Nicole and her family -- which also included her RN mother and a younger sister -- harkened back to Aussie country.

Raised in the upper-middle-class Sydney suburb of Longueville for the remainder of the 1970s and well into the eighties, Kidman grew up infused with a love of the arts, particularly dance and theatre. Trained in ballet from the age of three, she made her acting debut in a nativity play at six. By the age of ten, she was studying acting in drama school, and she subsequently trained at the St. Martin's Youth Theatre in Melbourne and at Sydney's Phillip Street Theatre.

An awkward, gawky teenager, teased relentlessly because of her height, Kidman took refuge in the theater, and landed her first professional role at the age of 14, when she starred in Bush Christmas (1983), a TV movie about a group of kids who band together with an Aborigine to find their stolen horse. Brian Trenchard-Smith's BMX Bandits (1983) -- an adventure film/teen movie -- followed , with Kidman as the lead character, Judy; it opened to solid reviews. Kidman then worked for the gifted John Duigan (The Winter of Our Dreams, Romero) twice, first as one of the two adolescent leads of the Duigan-directed "Room to Move" episode of the Australian TV series Winners (1985) and, more prestigiously, as the star of Duigan's acclaimed miniseries Vietnam (1987), produced by Kennedy-Miller In the latter, the actress won positive notices for her portrayal of an awkward 1960s schoolgirl who matures into an idealistic 24-year-old Vietnam war protester.

Kidman also secured Hollywood representation at about this time, which opened quite a few doors of opportunity. In 1988, Kidman got another major break when she was tapped to star in Phillip Noyce's Dead Calm (1989). A psychological thriller about a couple (Kidman and Sam Neill) who are terrorized by a young man they rescue from a sinking ship (Billy Zane), the film helped to establish the then-21-year-old Kidman as an actress of considerable mettle. That same year, her starring performance in the made-for-TV Bangkok Hilton (which cast her as a young woman incarcerated in a Thai prison on false drug smuggling charges) further bolstered her reputation.

By now a rising star in Australia, Kidman began to earn recognition across the Pacific. In 1989,Tom Cruise picked her for a starring role in her first American feature, Tony Scott's Days of Thunder (1990). The film, a testosterone-saturated drama about a racecar driver (Cruise), cast Kidman as the neurologist who falls in love with him. A sizable hit, it had the added advantage of introducing Kidman to Cruise, whom she married in December of 1990.

Following a role as Dustin Hoffman's moll in Robert Benton's Billy Bathgate (1991), and a supporting turn as a snotty boarding school senior in the masterful Flirting (1991), which teamed her with Duigan a third time, Kidman collaborated with Cruise on their second film together, Far and Away (1992). Despite their joint star quality, gorgeous cinematography, and adequate direction by Ron Howard, critics quite rightly panned the lackluster film.

Kidman's subsequent projects, My Life and Malice ( both 1993), were similarly disappointing, despite scattered favorable reviews. Batman Forever (1995), in which she played the hero's love interest, Dr. Chase Meridian, fared somewhat better, but did little in the way of establishing Kidman as a serious actress even as it raked in mile-high returns at the summer box office.

Kidman finally broke out of her window-dressing typecasting when Gus Van Sant enlisted her to portray the ruthless protagonist of To Die For (1995). Directed from a Buck Henry script, this uber-dark comedy casts Kidman as Suzanne Stone, a television broadcaster ready and eager to commit one homicide after another to propel herself to the top. Displaying a gift for impeccable comic timing, she earned Golden Globe and National Broadcast Critics Circle Awards for Best Actress. Further critical praise greeted Kidman's performance as Isabel Archer in Jane Campion's 1996 adaptation of Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady. Now regarded as one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood -- as well as one half of its most high-profile couple -- Kidman starred opposite George Clooney in the big-budget action extravaganza The Peacemaker (1997) and opposite Sandra Bullock in the frothy Practical Magic (1998). Both films weren't remotely as interesting or successful as Kidman's concurrent return to the stage in London's Donmar Warehouse production of The Blue Room. Cast as several characters, one of which required her to play a scene in the nude, Kidman inspired a sensation among both audiences and critics, the latter of whom were moved to write numerous lines of sweaty praise for the actress' full-bodied flirtation with nudity. The play enjoyed a sold-out run in both London and New York, and Kidman earned an Evening Standard Award and Olivier nomination for her performance.

In 1999, Kidman starred in one of her most controversial films to date, Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Adapted from Arthur Schnitzler's Traumnovelle and cloaked in secrecy from the beginning of its production, the film also stars Cruise as Kidman's physician husband. During the spring and summer of 1999, the media unsurprisingly hyped the couple's onscreen pairing -- and the alleged envelope-pushing sexual content -- as the two major selling points. However, despite an added measure of intrigue from Kubrick's death only weeks after shooting wrapped, Eyes Wide Shut repeated the performance of prior Kubrick efforts by opening to a radically mixed reaction.

Meanwhile, as the new millennium arrived, problems began to erupt between Kidman and Tom Cruise; divorce followed soon after, and the tabloids swirled with talk of new relationships for the both of them. She concurrently plunged into a string of daring, eccentric film roles - edgier and chancer than anything she had done before --and seemed to relish greater and greater challenges as her career rolled on.

Kidman began this trend with a role in Jez Butterworth's Birthday Girl (2001) as a Russian mail order bride, and Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge (2001), which cast her, in the lead, as a courtesan in a 19th century Paris hopped up with late 20th century pop songs. The picture - a carnivalesque whirligig of color, light, sound and kinesthesia -- dazzled some and alienated others, but once again, journalists flocked to Kidman's side.

Following this success (the picture gleaned a Best Picture nod but failed to win), Kidman gained even more positive notice for her turn as an icy mother after the key to a dark mystery in Alejandro Amenabar's spooky throwback, The Others. When the 59th Annual Golden Globe Awards finally arrived, Kidman received nominations for her memorable performances in both films. Though her emotionally fragile performance in The Others lost out to Sissy Spacek's performace in Todd Field's In the Bedroom (2001), Kidman's upbeat performance in the lively Moulin Rouge found the versatile actress taking home a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy in addition to the Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

Though it couldn't have been any further from her flamboyant turn in Moulin Rouge, Kidman's camouflaged role as Virginia Woolf in the following year's The Hours (2002) (she wears little makeup and a prosthetic nose), for which she delivered a mesmerizing and haunting performance, kept the Oscar and Golden Globe nominations steadily flowing in for the acclaimed actress. The fair-haired beauty finally snagged the Best Actress Oscar that had been so elusive the year before.

After the elation that followed the Oscar ceremony, Kidman continued to take on challenging work under the aegis of intensely cerebral directors. She played the lead, Grace - a woman on the run from gangsters who holes up in a 1930s western town -- in Lars von Trier's Dogville, although she declined to continue in Von Trier's planned trilogy of films about that character. She swung for the Oscar fences again in 2003 as the female lead in Cold Mountain, but it was co-star Renee Zellweger who won the statuette that year. Kidman did solid work for Jonathan Glazer in the Jean-Claude Carriere-penned Birth, as a woman revisited by the incarnation of her dead husband in a small child's body, but stumbled with a pair of empty-headed comedies, Frank Oz's The Stepford Wives and Nora Ephron's Bewitched (both 2005), that her skills could not save. She worked with Sean Penn in the political thriller The Interpreter in 2005. In 2006 Kidman's personal life took a turn for the better when she married country singer Keith Urban.

For the most part, Kidman continued to stretch herself with increasingly demanding and arty roles throughout 2006. In Steven Shainberg's Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, Kidman plays controversial housewife-cum-photographer Diane Arbus --a role that plunges the actress into a bizarre, fictionalized romance with the freakishly hirsute paramour Lionel Sweeney (Robert Downey, Jr.). In Happy Feet, fellow Aussie Dr. George Miller's live action Babe follow-up about a penguin who learns to tap dance to impress a crush, Kidman voices one of several talking Arctic animals.

Meanwhile, Kidman returned to popcorn pictures by playing Mrs. Coulter in Chris Weitz's massive, $150-million fantasy adventure The Golden Compass (2007), adapted from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series of books. She also signed on to headline the sci-fi thriller Invasion for Warner Brothers, a loose remake of the classic Invasion of hte Body Snatchers directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. Kidman plays a psychiatrist who, during a global epidemic that begins changing human behavior en masse - infers that an alien invasion is responsible. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide

Nicole Kidman, Artis Terkaya di Australia

2007-12-24T04:29:00.000-08:00

Australia-RRI-Online,
Penghasilan yang dua kali lipat lebih besar dari penghasilan biasanya pada tahun 2003,aktris cantik peraih Oscar Nicole Kidman, disebut-sebut sebagai entertainer yang paling kaya raya di Australia.
Survei yang dilakukan majalah Business Review Weekly terhadap 50 pekerja penghibur, penempatkan Kidman tergolongartis kaya. Tahun lalu, mantan istri Tom Cruise ini memperoleh total pendapatan sebesar US$18,6 juta.

Angka tersebut, jelaslah dua kali lebih besar ketimbang pendapatannya pada tahun 2002,yang mencapai US$8,63. Dengan demikian, posisi Kidman yang tadinya bertengger di urutan kesembilan pekerja hiburan paling kaya, meloncat ke posisi pertama sebagaimana dilansir majalah tersebut.

Angka sebesar itu, kebanyakan diraih Kidman dari bermain film. Lihat saja, beberapa belakangan ini, ia kerap diminta membintangi sejumlah film bermutu. Sebut saja, COLD MOUNTAIN, DOGVILLE, THE HOURS, EYES WIDE SHUT dan film yang siap beredar THE STEPFORD WIVES. Di film THE HOURS garapan sutradara Stephen Daldry itu, ia bahkan bisa menunjukkan sebagai bintang yang layak menerima Oscar.

Posisi pekerja hiburan terkaya kedua di Australia diduduki penyanyi John Farnham, yang tahun lalu menggelar 96 konser di kawasan Australia. Penghasilan yang diperolehnya disebut-sebut sebesar US$17,8 juta, diikuti kelompok rock AC/DC yang berpenghasilan sebesar US$14,9.

Selain dinobatkan sebagai pekerja hiburan terkaya, Kidman juga disebut-sebut sebagai wanita pemilik hidung terindah. Berdasarkan hasil sebuah survei yang dilakukan kepada sejumlah wanita yang hendak melakukan operasi plastik pada bagian hidung, hidung mancrit milik Kidman lah yang paling banyak disukai.

Nicole Kidman Had Skin Cancer

2007-12-17T23:42:00.000-08:00

Pale-faced Nicole Kidman says she stays out of the sun and wears tons of sunscreen because the sun is her enemy...just kidding. Kidman says she stays out of the sun to avoid skin damage, which is probably why she has such luminous skin.

She says, "I wear a lot of sunscreen. I never go in the sun. I've had one skin cancer on my leg, and I rarely get in the sun, so that just shows you. They cut it out (the cancer). Stay out of the sun, because it is the worst thing in terms of aging. I'm very medical. I come from a medical family."

'I rarely go in the sun' is a little bit of a stretch isn't it? I mean just wear SPF 987987 and you'll be cool, right?

Nicole Kidman Is A Groupie

2007-12-17T23:07:00.001-08:00

After divorcing from Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman has found refuge in starring in movies…a lot of movies. She has become one heck of an actress. Now she is ready to take a step back and just hang out with her husband. She admits that she hates being apart from her husband Keith Urban and thats why she's decided to become a temporary groupie.

Kidman has passed on several scripts to accompany her man on his international Love, Pain And The Whole Crazy World tour.

She says, "I like being on the road. I get to see parts of America that I would never see. It's a whole different environment. No red carpet, no pressure for me. I'm not doing a show.

"I'm just there as a wife, and I take some photographs."

When these two married, I thought it was one of those “fake” Hollywood marriages. I thought the only reason she married him was because she was trying to act like she was all right with Tom Cruise marrying Katie Holmes but they’ve really began to grow on me.

Nicole reveals miscarriage and secret engagement to Vanity Fair

2007-12-17T23:00:00.000-08:00

A secret ill-fated engagement, a traumatic miscarriage, a brand-spankin'-new rehab-bound husband-on and offscreen, Nicole knows from drama. The typically reticent, at least in matters of privacy, actress has opened up to Vanity Fair on the turns in her life that have both dominated the headlines and miraculously managed to keep out of them-until now.

The 40-year-old actress, who has two adopted children with ex-hubby Tom Cruise and who has made no secret of her desire to have more with new hubby Keith Urban, reveals in the magazine's October issue that she suffered not one but two miscarriages during her relationship with Cruise and that her early loss paved the way for the adoption of her two children, Isabella, 14, and Connor, 12.

"From the minute Tom and I were married, I wanted to have babies," Nic, who was 22 when she met the movie star, tells the magazine. "And we lost a baby early on, so that was really very traumatic. And that's when we would adopt Bella.

"My mother has an adopted sister, so it's been a part of our family, and I knew it would probably play out somewhere in mine. I didn't think it would happen so early, but it did."

While Nic opted not to reveal the circumstances surrounding either the miscarriage or the adoption of her daughter, followed just two years later by the adoption of her son, she does hint that there were extenuating circumstances that would, for now, remain untold.

"There's a complicated background to that, given that I never speak much about many things. One day, maybe that story will be told."

While the Oscar-winning actress has previously acknowledged she suffered a miscarriage in early 2001, when she and Cruise filed for divorce, Nic rarely speaks about her marriage to Cruise. However, she did reveal that she was warned by her agents prior to tying the knot with the world's most enduringly famous movie star that by becoming Mrs. Cruise, she would essentially be killing her career.

"I was appalled," she says in the article. "I was like, 'Hello? I'm in love, and I don't care if it's shooting myself in the foot, I'd much rather be married and have a family.

"I just saw a guy who rides around on a motorbike and happens to be the biggest movie star in the world. But I was in love with him, which is why I think we lasted 11 and a half years together. I have no regrets in that relationship."

Ditto her current marriage.

Despite a rocky start, with Urban checking into the Betty Ford Clinic just four months after tying the knot with Nic last year, she says they have come out of the experience much stronger.

"I'm more than willing to walk it with him," she says of her support of Urban's recovery. "We were in a very, very, very bad, painful place and have managed to step through it, and I hope that gives some people some hope who may be in the same place. And that's enough said. Anything else is overindulgent and unnecessary right now."

Nic, who says she and Urban never spend more than 13 days apart and that they "start to hurt after seven days," says she and her Grammy-winning hubby were a perfect match from the moment they met, though not for the fairy-tale reasons.

"I think we were two lonely people. I would probably say that two very lonely people managed to meet at a time when they could open themselves to each other."

Nic said her feelings of loneliness were exacerbated after winning the 2003 Best Actress Oscar for The Hours.

"It felt big. It felt lonely and big. You're in a hotel, and you're like, okay well, I'm sitting in this big suite with an Oscar, and I still don't have a life. What is wrong with me? It hit home that I needed to get a life. Who do I jump on the bed with, and celebrate with, and order pancakes with?"

Still, Nic wasn't lonely for long, though Urban wasn't the first to attempt to fill the void.

"I get engaged, and I get married-that's my thing," she said, revealing to the magazine that she was briefly engaged in the time between her split from Cruise and her coupling with Urban.

While Nic opts not to identify her fleetingly betrothed better half, the prime candidates being billionaire Steve Bing and Lenny Kravitz, the two men she was romantically involved with during that time, she simply said, "It just wasn't right. I wasn't ready. We weren't ready."

There is one thing she's more than ready for now, however: more kids.

"I'm yearning to have one," she says of her and Urban's babymaking plans. "I think I would be very sad if I wasn't able to have a baby. Keith knows I want one, and he has been getting there slowly."

Nicole Preparing for Australia
07 Mar 2007
Nicole has said that she was not afraid to get her hands dirty when it came to preparing for her new part - even learning how to round up cattle and castrate bulls.
"I don't know if I'll have to do that, but it's best to be prepared," the star told the Daily Mail.

Nicole that she has been preparing for months to shoot Baz Luhrmann's epic World War II-era movie Australia.

She plays an English aristocrat who travels to Australia after she inherits a cattle station the size of Belgium and is forced to make a pact with an Australian cattle baron (played by Hugh Jackman).

"In seven weeks I'll be riding a horse and chasing young bulls," Nic said.

Nicole hurt during 'zombie' crash
26 Jan 2007
Oscar-winning actress Nicole was taken to hospital after being involved in a car crash while filming a zombie scene in her latest film. She and seven others were released from Los Angeles hospitals after checks. None were seriously injured.
Nic, reputed to be the highest-paid actress in the world, was behind the wheel of a Jaguar during production of The Invasion, when the crash occurred.

Her publicist said the car was being towed by a filming vehicle at the time.

"The stunt driver apparently went off course and hit a light post," said Los Angeles police officer Karen Smith.

The accident happened on a public street in the city, which had been sealed off for filming, at about 0100 (0900 GMT) on Thursday.

Ms Smith said police would probably conduct a routine traffic accident investigation at the scene.

Nicole's publicist said the Nic was trying to shake zombies off the bonnet of her Jaguar when the car spun off the road.

She also said, Nic was examined at hospital then released two hours later, and was expected to go straight back to work.

Nicole marries singer Keith Urban
25 Jun 2006
Nicole has married her singer boyfriend Keith Urban at an evening ceremony in Sydney.
Nic arrived at the cliff-top gothic church in Manly dressed in a flowing white gown and veil and clutching a posy of roses.

X-Men actor Hugh Jackman and King Kong actress Naomi Watts are among the celebrants at the service in a beach suburb of the city.

A crowd of well-wishers gathered outside the St Patrick's estate.

The onlookers cheered when Nic's Rolls Royce limousine came past and had to slow down to avoid hitting anyone.

Nicole smiled and waved to the crowd as the car pulled into the estate of the former seminary.

The star accompanied by father Antony, arrived in a cream Rolls Royce limousine after driving from her harbour side mansion in another part of the city - followed all the way by media helicopters.

She held a long-stemmed posy and wore drop pearl earrings and a willowy veil.

Some of the observers climbed trees and the stone wall outside the compound trying to catch a glimpse of activity inside

Guards are positioned around the church compound, which is surrounded by a stone wall and a high-wire fence.

Ninety minutes after Oscar-winning Nicole entered the church its bells rang out, signalling the end of the service and the start of her marriage to Urban.

On Saturday Urban's manager said the couple wanted "a normal wedding with their friends and family" - among them movie stars Naomi Watts and Russell Crowe.

He added: "They're both just happy to have their family around them at this time and both are really excited."

The wedding venue, which was formerly a seminary, has seen a frenzy of activity in the past few days, with a marquee erected outside.

Local newspapers reported on the event with gusto, with headlines heralding "Kidmania" in Manly.

Pupils at a Catholic College opposite the Estate have erected a sign welcoming the couple.

Locals described the venue as romantic, with an atmospheric gravelled carriageway approaching the cathedral.

Happy ever after for Nicole?
20 Jun 2006
Nicole and country singer Keith Urban have announced they are to marry imminently.
"We have come home to celebrate our wedding with our family and friends," the couple said in a statement, shortly after their arrival in Sydney on Monday.
Nic's love life has been the subject of speculation since she announced her separation from fellow Hollywood star Tom Cruise in February 2001, after 10 years of marriage.

At the time of their separation, the couple's spokesperson blamed "divergent careers that keep them apart". Cruise later filed for divorce, claiming "irreconcilable differences".

The collapse of their relationship surprised many industry observers, who viewed the marriage as one of the strongest in Hollywood.

Cruise described his first meeting with Nicole, on the set of Days of Thunder in 1990, as "sheer lust".

He left his first wife Mimi Rogers and the couple married the same year, rapidly becoming Hollywood royalty.

The couple adopted two children Isabella and Connor, now 13 and 11 respectively, and juggled their work schedules to ensure a stable home environment.

Publicly and professionally they appeared united and content.

In 1998, the couple won substantial damages at the High Court in London after the Sunday Express claimed their marriage was a sham.

Nic called their 2001 divorce "a major shock".

"To me, he was just Tom," she told US magazine Ladies' Home Journal last month. "He was lovely to me. And I loved him. I still love him."

According to divorce court file papers, Nic begged Cruise not to end their marriage and later miscarried a baby she was carrying.

Within months, Cruise was dating Vanilla Sky co-star Penelope Cruz.

Nonetheless, personal distress coincided with professional triumph for Kidman as a string of critically acclaimed roles thrust her into the awards spotlight and saw her win an Oscar for playing author Virginia Woolf in The Hours in 2003.

She also had a hit single in the UK, duetting with Robbie Williams on the Nancy Sinatra cover Somethin' Stupid which took the coveted Christmas number one spot.

As one of Hollywood's highest paid stars - and newly single - Niclove life became the focus of tabloid speculation.

Close friend and fellow actor Russell Crowe and singer Lenny Kravitz were both rumoured to be dating the actress.

The actress won undisclosed damages from two British newspapers who wrongly claimed she was having an affair with married Cold Mountain co-star Jude Law.

There were also suggestions that Nic and Cruise might get back together.

"We have very different lives now but, as I've said to Tom, I will be there for him for the rest of his life, always there," the actress told the US People magazine in 2003.

For his part, Cruise told the Daily Telegraph in December: "I have always loved Nic and I always will."

But in June last year, Cruise announced his engagement to Katie Holmes. Their whirlwind romance dominated headlines, with Cruise describing Holmes as "just amazing".

Nic herself was soon rumoured to be dating New Zealand-born singer Urban, 38, whom she met at an awards dinner in Los Angeles in January this year.

Unlike Cruise and Holmes, the pair, who were both brought up in Australia, conducted a low-key courtship away from the media spotlight.

In May this year, they confirmed their engagement after Nic was spotted wearing what appeared to be an engagement ring.

"He's actually my fiance," she told People magazine. Urban's publicist, Paul Freundlich, later confirmed the couple were "happily engaged".

A homegrown prodigy, Urban moved to Nashville and won the Grammy award for best male country vocal performance last year - but only after he beat addiction to cocaine in the late 1990s.

As she celebrates her 39th birthday on Tuesday, Nicole could be looking forward to a life of domestic bliss with Urban in Nashville.

"I think probably when I fall in love, that's when I will stop doing as much as this because I will want to settle down again," she said in Cannes in 2003.

We would like to wish Nicole every happiness now and in the future!

Nicole Kidman: "My Kids Don't Call Me Mom"

2007-12-17T22:49:00.000-08:00

I don't even remember the last time I saw Nicole Kidman with her two adopted children, Isabella, 14, and Connor, 12. Apparently her kids don't remember seeing her much either.

Kidman says her children refuse to call her 'Mom,' and she doesn't see them much because they enjoy living in Los Angeles with Tom.

She told UK TV show 'GMTV': "My kids don't call me mommy, they don't even call me mom. They call me Nicole, which I hate and tell them off for it."

Kidman also confessed her annoyance at her kids being raised as Scientologists. She said: 'Yes, they're being raised as Scientologists. I don't want to go there.

"My daughter and son, their life is molded by the way I live. If I wasn't willing to take on that responsibility, I shouldn't have adopted them. Then it can be argued that I should never have divorced, and that's true, too, but sometimes you don't have a decision in that. People fall out of love, they do.

'When children are teenagers, they have a say in where they want to be. Los Angeles is a big draw, and I'm looking to get a place there so we can share more.'

Imagine being adopted by Nicole and Tom, that's as cool as being adopted by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

Biography Nicole Mary Kidman

2007-12-17T22:46:00.001-08:00

Nicole Mary Kidman was born on June 20th 1967 in Honolulu, Hawaii. She was the first child of Anthony and Janelle Kidman, both of whom have had vibrant lives with Anthony being a biochemist, author and clinical psychologist, and Janelle working as a nurse and feminist.

Nicole was born in America because Anthony was working at the University of Hawaii. She didn't move to Australia until 1971, but by this time she had already shown an interest in the arts by taking up ballet at the age of three. It should be noted that because of being born in the USA of Australian parents Nicole holds dual nationality, which has helped her to gain film roles in Hollywood.

Nicole is very much her mother's daughter, being brought up to be head strong and not afraid of men - which has helped her from a very young age. At 6, because of not getting the staring role in her school's nativity show, she said everyone else's lines on the big night.

At the age of 10 Nicole enrolled in drama school where she really started to gain an interest in acting, at least compared to dancing. About this time it was discovered that she had a genetic inability to tan. This with her excessive height and fuzzy hair made her into a target for ridicule from her peers (but at that age most children can be nasty towards each other).

Nicole reached 5' 9" (approx 1.7m) by 13 and is quoted as saying "…I thought I was the ugliest girl in the world until the guys started asking me out on dates."

At 14 whilst studying at the St. Martin's Youth Theater in Melbourne Nicole landed her first film roles in the TV movies Bush Christmas & Chase Through the Night, which now airs most Christmas' in Australia.

Over the next 3 or so years Nicole became a pupil at the North Sydney Girls High School, and appeared in 9 other films. The most notable of which is Windrider where she starred with Tom Burlinson with whom she later had a 2-year affair.

Then came her first big break with a small, but none the less important role in the TV mini series Vietnam. In fact her acting was considered so good that she won the Australian Film Institute's award for best television actress.

Nicole was now a star, at least in Australia, and it was her next movie Dead Calm that really catapulted her onto the international stage. Nicole knew that this was her best chance to 'make it big' and is quoted as saying "…I focused all my energies on this part." This movie not only proved to be her big break into Hollywood, but also brought her to the attention of the then married Tom Cruise and led to her being summoned to a casting for his next project Days Of Thunder.

On auditioning for Days Of Thunder Nicole was not confident, now being 5' 10" (approx 1.75m) and so towering over the leading man, but she didn't have to worry because she got the part.

Nicole and Tom fell in love during the filming, and once his divorce to Mimi Rogers in 1990 came through the stage was set. On December 24th 1990, during the filming of Billy Bathgate Nicole and Tom were married, it was a very low-key affair with just 10 guests at Telluride in Colorado.

Her marriage was always going to attract media attention, especially because so few Hollywood marriages succeed, but I doubt if she knew that this attention would last a lifetime.

After Billy Bathgate she starred along side Tom in Far and Away, which showed to the film world their obsession with the media. This was because after having a promised photo taken with the crew they [Nicole and Tom] were unable to authorise its release.

Far and Away was not really a success for Nicole and her next film role in My Life was limited, however this led to Malice, which I believe shows her acting abilities wonderfully.

In her personal life Nicole and Tom managed to adopt a baby girl in January 1993, called Isabella Jane Kidman Cruise.

Then came the chance of starring in the black comedy To Die For. Nicole has been quoted as saying, "When [I heard about the Suzanne role in To Die For] I thought, 'I'll never get it--it'll be offered to someone else.' So I called Gus [Van Sant] at home, and he took my call, thank God. I told him I'd seen Drugstore Cowboy, and I really wanted to work with him. I said I was destined to work with him." After getting the role and giving an excellent performance she was honored with a plethora of awards including a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture.

In 1995 Nicole and Tom adopted their second child, Connor Anthony Cruise after his birth in February.

The film roles that followed included The Portrait Of A Lady that Nicole really wanted. Jane Campion, who Nicole had met at the age of 14 and turned down for a role in Jane's final year project, directed it. Nicole likes strong female roles, so The Portrait Of A Lady suited her down to the ground - she lived the part even wearing a very tight fitting corset off stage.

In 1997 Nicole starred along side George Clooney in The Peacemaker, which although being the first film from the Dreamworks studio was not as successful as she may have hoped.

Then came Practical Magic, which has been called a 'chick flick' where Nicole played along side Sandra Bullock. Since then they have both been good friends, which is rare within Hollywood.

Nicole then moved to England to work on Eyes Wide Shut with husband Tom. During the filming (which took 18 months) Nicole took up a stage role in the West End play The Blue Room. Her stage acting was so acclaimed that she won 2 awards, and when Eyes Wide Shut was released it too was applauded.

Nicole then began work on 3 new films (In The Cut, The Birthday Girl and Moulin Rouge), all of which were due out in 2000 and all of which, for one reason or another have been delayed.

6th February 2001 - It's announced that Nicole and Tom are to 'regretfully separate' due to 'difficulties that are inherent in their divergent careers which constantly keep them apart'. The Media are having a field day, I am sure that this story will run and run.

8th Feb 2001 - Tom in a shock move files for divorce from Nicole.
May 2001 - Moulin Rouge opens the Cannes Film Festival and everyone is so impressed with Nicole, her singing and acting as well as the film it's self. This is possibly the best film Nic has stared in - and definitely could not have come at a more strained time.

Nicole Kidman, Wanita Terkaya Di Australia

2007-12-17T19:47:00.000-08:00

Aktris pemenang Oscar dalam film dalam The Hours, Nicole Kidman masuk peringkat daftar wanita terkaya di Australia. Menurut majalah Business Review Weekly, istri Tom Cruise memiliki nilai kekayaan senilai A$123 juta (US$80,87 juta).

Kini Kidman menempati urutan 157 dari 200 orang terkaya Australia. Posisi itu naik 12 peringkat dari tahun lalu, menyusul perceraiannya dengan Cruise, saat Kidman masuk ke daftar orang terkaya untuk pertama kalinya dengan kekayaan A$112 juta (US$73,64 juta). "Saat saya dimasukkan dalam posisi itu saya sedang tak punya hubungan, saat itu saya tak punya arah hendak kemana," kata Kidman dalam wawancaranya dengan BRW.

"Sekarang, saya kembali bekerja. Saya menjadi karakter saya. Ini sungguh
hal yang menyenangkan dalam hidup." imbuhnya.

Sekali lagi, raja game dan media Kerry Packer masih menjadi orang terkaya
di Australia, meskipun nilai kekayaannya turun menjadi sekitar A$5,5 miliar
(US$3,62 miliar) dari A$5,9 miliar (US$3,88 miliar) tahun lalu. Disusul bos Visy Industries, Richard Pratt, dengan kekayaan sekitar A$3,8 miliar (US$2,5 miliar), yang mengempaskan bos Westfield, Frank Lowy dengan kekayaan US$3,7 miliar ke posisi tiga.

Menurut BRW, kombinasi kekayaan ke-200 orang terkaya di Australia mencapai
sekitar A$63,22 miliar (US$41,57 miliar), turun tipis dari A$64,88 miliar
(US$42,66 miliar) pada tahun lalu.

Australia juga hanya punya enam milyarder, berkurang dua dari tahun lalu.
Raja ritel Gerry Harvey keluar dari daftar miliarder karena kekayaannya
tinggal A$800 juta (US$526 juta) turun dari A$1,17 miliar (US$769,28 juta)
tahun lalu.

Satunya, raja mesin game Len Ainsworth juga keluar dari daftar miliarder,
karena kekayaannya turun menjadi A$565 juta (US$371,49 juta), menurut data
BRW.

Tom Cruise - Katie Holmes di Beverly Hills

2007-12-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

Setelah sekian lama, akhirnya Suri - putri Tom Cruise dan Katie Holmes diajak keluar di hadapan publik untuk yang kedua kalinya......lihat foto mereka Cruise dan Holmes menyaksikan pertandingan basket anak adopsi aktor ini dengan Nicole Kidman di Beverly Hills dan mengajak serta putri kandung mereka, Suri. Bocah berusia 10 bulan ini terlihat imut.

Nicole Kidman, Calon Terkuat Penerima Palem Emas

2007-12-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

Nicole Kidman diprediksi bakal menjadi calon terkuat untuk menerima penghargaan Palme d’Or (Palem Emas) di Cannes Film Festival ke – 56, yang digelar mulai tanggal 14 Mei sampai 25 Mei mendatang.

Prediksi ini muncul ketika minggu kemarin film terbarunya Drogville, besutan sutradara Lars Von Trier diputar pertama kalinya. Mereka yang menonton mengaku kagum dengan acting mantan istri Tom Cruies Ini. Kidman sendiri usai menyaksikan filmnya itu menyatakan siap tampil kembali di film kedua dan ke tiga Dogville.

Kehadiran Kidman diajang bergensi ini, memang sangat diharapkan, tapi sedikt merepotkan panitia penyelenggara. Karena selain Kidman, yang juga dipastikan akan hadir mantan suaminya. Masalahnya Cruese bakal mengandeng kekasihnya Penelope Cruz di acara itu. Biar enggak bentrok panitia memilih jadwal yang pas bias mereka tidak berpapasan.

Dalam film yang bersetting tahun 30-an, Kidman memerankan tokoh Grace, wanita cantik yang sedang dikejar-kejar oleh kelompok gangster. Grace akhirnya memilih kabur ke Dogville wilayah Rocky Mountains. Karena takut ketahuan, selama disana ia memohon kepada penduduk setempat untuk tidak memberitahukan kepada siapa pun prihal tentang dirinya, namun Grace harus berkorban dengan membayar mahal usahanya itu.

Pada Cannes ke-55 tahun lalu, aktris asal Finlandia Kati Qutinen, diberikan penghargaan Palem emas lewat filmnya The Man Without a Pas.

Nicole Kidman: The Next Audrey Hepburn?

2007-12-17T19:07:00.000-08:00

Kasak-kusuk berhembus kenceng di balik panggung Oscar. Nggak lama sesudah perhelatan akbar di dunia film itu digelar hari Senen kemaren di Kodak Theatre Hollywood, muncul public statement berisi pujian untuk Nicole Kidman...

“Nicole adalah cewek yang sangat brilian. Dia sangat pantas mendapatkan penghargaan itu!, “ungkap Russel Crowe tulus. Dia bahkan berani menyebutkan bahwa penyabet oscar untuk kategori pemain utama wanita terbaik lewat The Hours ini sebagai the next Audrey Hepburn, seorang bintang film legenda di era 70-an.

Nicole Kidman dan Keith Urban

2007-12-17T18:43:00.000-08:00

Pasangan asal Australia, Nicole Kidman dan Keith Urban terlihat makin bahagia saja. Pasangan ini saling bergandengan tangan saat masuk ke premier dunia film DISCTRACTED pada Minggu sore (25/3) do Los Angeles, California.

Nicole Mary Kidman

2007-12-17T18:26:00.000-08:00

Nicole Mary Kidman
Perempuan
Honolulu, Hawaii, 20 Juni 1967

Biografi :
Nicole Kidman memiliki nama lengkap Nicole Mary Kidman, lahir di Honolulu, Hawaii, 20 Juni 1967. Ia adalah istri dari penyanyi country Keith Urban yang menikahinya pada 25 Juni 2006.

Kidman yang mantan istri bintang film Tom Cruise itu, telah meraih sejumlah penghargaan dalam perfilman, di antaranya Academy Award (Oscar) untuk kategori aktris terbaik lewat perannya sebagai Virginia Woolf dalam film THE HOURS (2003).Selain itu juga pernah meraih Golden Globe Award, BAFTA dan MTV Movie Awards.

Sementara itu, Kidman juga dikenal sebagai aktifis sosial, duta UNICEF dan perdamaian Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa (PBB).

Nicole Kidman Raih Oscar, Chicago Terbaik

2007-12-17T17:48:00.000-08:00

Total 5 Oscar disabet film Chicago, diantarnya melalui Catherina Zeta Jones, untuk aktris pembantu terbaik. Selain itu, film yang diangkat dari drama musikal Brodway ini juga meraih, best art direction, sound, costume desiogn, serta film editing.

Keberhasilan Adrien Brody tentu mengejutkan, dan tentu saja membuat kecewa para aktor yang lebih diunggulkan. Sebut saja, Daniel Day-Lewis yang sangat difavoritkan lewat filmnya "Gangs of New York," Jack Nicholson "About Schmidt," Michael Caine "The Quiet American" serta Nicolas Cage untuk "Adaptation."

Brody yang tidak bisa menyembunyui kegembiraannya membuat kejutan dengan memberikan ciuman dahsyat di bibir kepada Halle Berry, aktris pemenang Oscar tahun lalu di atas panggung. "Hadiah ini lebih baik dari memberikan tas," kata dia, yang tentu sebuah tas berarti ada banyak jam mahal, parfum, dan hadiah lain untuk pemenang.

Namun, jokes di panggung itu menjadi kesedihan ketika dia dengan terharu menceritakan kesedihan saat membuat film di Irak beberapa waktu lalu. Kejadian perang membuat dia merasa dalam suasana yang paling menyedihkan. "Marilah kita berdoa demi perdamaian," katanya dia dan disambut oleh seluruh hadirin berdiri dan berdoa.

Reaksi untuk menhyurakan perdamain memang kental dalam perhelatan Oscar tahun ini. Bahkan aktris Susan Sarandon langsung menyuarakan perdamaian dengan keras.