Nicole Kidman: 'Am I any good' in 'Australia'? Your answer?

Nicole Kidman admits in the Sydney Herald that she isn't "proud" of her performance in Baz Luhrmann’s epic “Australia," a film which has been roundly snubbed by critics and awards shows so far this season.

Kidman revealed that she "squirmed" in her seat throughout the Sydney premiere.

"I can't look at this movie and be proud of what I've done. I sat there, and I looked at Keith and went, 'Am I any good in this movie?' "

Nicole was so freaked she fled the country when the premiere was over with husband Keith Urban and their 5-month-old daughter Sunday Rose.

She told Australian radio station 2dayFM: "We ran because I didn't want to read anything. I didn't want to know. I saw my sister and my family and we saw Keith's family and then we were straight on a plane."

She admitted she only saw the film as a favor to her director.

To find out why, keep reading...

"I don't usually see my films, but because of Baz I had to see it. I saw 'Moulin Rouge.' I've really only seen that and this in my whole career. It gets worse as I get older."

We know just how she feels. 

We’ve been having trouble watching Ms. Kidman, who was one of our favorite actresses, since “Moulin Rouge,” when her facial muscles first began to look like they were mysteriously freezing up.

It's not the getting older that bothers your film fans, Nicole. It’s the lack of expression, otherwise known as the Cher Syndrome.

What do you think? Is it her acting that's suffering or simply her missing expressions?

Related Nicole Kidman posts:

Will "Australia" cure Kidman's career or kill it?

Nicole's baby due in just six weeks?

Nicole Kidman: The Way She Wore

Is Nicole Kidman one of the walking dead?

Photos: Nicole Kidman. Credit: WireImage; Kidman and Hugh Jackman in "Australia." Credit: 20th Century Fox.

Comments

[Michael]

Nicole Kidman was delightful in Australia. The character developed over the course of the film and Nicole did a fine job. There was chemistry with Hugh Jackman (but then again Hugh Jackman makes everyone look great because of his amazing charisma). Best for me was when Nicole was funny - the scene when she is traveling to her new home and there was this pack of kangaroos . . . And when she comforted Nullah (sp?). Well-done multi-faceted work.

[rachael weiss]

Being a Hollywood Child myself....Kidman is watching paint dry.....No chemistry......No expression....No feeling...No soul......Zero....The film failed in everyway......I suggest actresses realize that they gracefully need to study their craft...They arent the little tarts anymore...And study Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren......I would be embarrassed...She wasnt great in the beginning.....Come on!

[Jonathan]

I think Nicole Kidman is a good actress but not a great one, though she could be. She is just okay in Moulin Rouge (overrated by it's cult followers). She was great in The Hours but so were all three women, they were equal in that film and Ms. Julianne Moore deserved that oscar that year for her tour de force in Far From Heaven. I found Nicole's greatest moments in To Die For, Eyes Wide Shut, Dogville and The Others, but many dont agree with me. I think she needs to relax and take on some independent films. In most of what Kidman does I always see this underlying fear that SHE does not trust herself as an actress. She is better than she thinks she is, so if she would be more confident and work with more exciting directors we might get some better work from her. She has had great moments but I dont think she is a great actress.

[Kevin]

Well personally I thought Nicole was great in this! She really let herself go and be silly, which was nice for a change :)

[Susan]

YES, Nicole is fantastic in "Australia"!

Ms. Snead - please do some basic fact-checking. Nicole did NOT speak with Sydney Herald.

As to Nicole "fleeing" Australia with Keith and Sunday Rose when the Sydney premiere was over, Sunday Rose was not even in Australia at that time. That's why Nicole and Keith had to rush back to their little baby who stayed behind in Nashville upon the doctor's advise.

As to what she told the radio station 2dayFM, why don't you have a listen and decide for yourself how the Aussie press took an almost 6-weeks old radio interview and prnted her words out of context. Here's the link: http://www.2dayfm.com.au/shows/kyleandjackieo/listen/podcasts - check out the podcast for Friday November 21 2008

[Belle]

Nicole was good in Malice with Alec Baldwin when she had freckles and face moved completely. She was very very good in To Die For (where she should have been nominated for an Oscar) but then something happened. She started to talk in a whisper like Marilyn Monroe and yes, I could not get over the fact her face/forehead does not move anymore. I know actresses get botox and some go a little too far but with Nicole it seems the toxin from the botox made her acting less believable. She was a good actress when she had something to prove to the industry that she was more than just “Mrs. Tom Cruise” (Katie take note of this).

[writerdjb]

As a critic/playwright/screenwriter, I think it all boils down to the material. First how can one blame any one person for a film’s success or failure?

Personally, I LUV, Nicole Kidman, even more since I saw her in person at the Toronto Film Festival ( Dogville) Her acting, well she doesn't act, she performs. Like Bettye, Lauren and Carmen ( Miranda) her presence in the film makes people go to the show. Her acting, well she acted very well in Margot and Fur. But I think her finicky fans only like her when she's, well nude. Eyes, etc. As she ages gracefully perhaps its time to just be Nicky, I mean even Tom Cruise made a come back satirizing him self in Tropic and that V film.

[Erin Donovan]

Nicole honey, you're the only good thing in Australia.

[just an opinion]

I was so disappointed reading that Nicole Kidman said such things about her acting in Australia (by the way AUSTRALIA WAS A FANTASTIC, BRILLIANT FILM). She was very good in that and had no reason to speak like this about her work. I absolutely believe that an actor, or director should always defend their work no matter what. Specially Kidman, who was calling Australia her 'dream movie', the 'best thing I've ever done', 'I am connected to this film so much that I've never before with any of my movies'. I read such things and so many more hundreds of times in magazines, newspapers, websites, I watched her talking this way about the film on podcasts, interviews etc. She even connected the 'miracle' of her daughter's birth with 'Austalia' and now she goes: "It's just impossible for me to connect to it emotionally at all." For me she betrayed her effords first as the leading actress of the movie, her director, whom ironically she claims she abores, her co-stars and everyone involved in the project and gave their soul for it. Was she so affected by the critics? Was she so affected that HUGH JACKMAN came out completely unscathed and most of time praised by critics instead of her? But wait a minute. Not ALL reviews were bad!!? I would say that opinions were divided. In metacritic the film's score was 53 out of 100, in rottentomatoes 52 and according to forums about Australia most people loved it. But even if all these weren't true, she should still defend Australia, she should defend her work and not defame it. WE are the ones who will judge her acting, I mean the audience, and see should know that a big part of us liked Australia as a whole, and that "whole" definetely includes her. The olny thing that she achieved with her statements was to become a derision and of course to give the final shoot to her career. Pity...

[Guillermo Cardona]

I Think Nicole Kidman is a terrific actress and I have been watching her powers increased with each movie. She is a beautiful and private woman and somehow I thinj there is a little bit of envy.
I saw Australia twice (so far) and I think is a great movie not very well understand by a lot of people. It is a tribute to movies!
Nicole was terrific!
She is a truly terrific movie star and the SOLE reason to enjoy her movies the way Davis, A. Hepburn, Taylor, Shearer, Fonda and Streep are!

[Angelina]

I normally do not like Nicole Kidman as an actress, but I really enjoyed Australia. I thought she was great with Hugh Jackman, but the fact that her face does not move (there are a couple of crying scenes in the film) was quite distracting.

[luigi]

As an ex-pat Australian watching "Australia" I squirmed every time Nicole came on-screen. Totally mis-cast!
Her "silliness" was just that - silly!
Hugh was great and stole the whole show. Trouble was the movie had too many highs with all the lows in between. It was as big a drag as Nicole.

[Sal]

She was fine. I don't know what all the fuss is about - why is everyone picking on Nicole all of a sudden? I actually really enjoyed seeing her looking relaxed and natural in Australia. She looked happier and more content in this film and its promotions than I've ever seen her.

So back off. If anyone deserves criticism, it's Baz and studio execs for creating such a mess of a film, not all the fine actors who did their best in it.

[Helen]

Nicole, You did a wonderful performance in "Australia". I really enjoyed the movie and it reminded me of past times within the old movies. The media has down right mean to you with their critics and also Australia with the instrument deal. They need to come to the present time and not live in the past. Thank you for the time you spent away from your family and all your deeds you do for the support of women!!

[Nick]

Surely there something more important to worry about...Who cares...Really guys...where is reality...certainly wasn't much in this movie or Nicole Kidman for that matter.

[Martin]

This is the original interview with 2dayFM (and not the "Sydney Herald", which does not even exist under that name) . The above blog entry is trash talk in its purest form.

"Jackie O: What was it like watching the movie in front of a cinema full of people? Because I heard you watched it for the first time that night at the premiere.

Nicole: That was hard. Because I don't usually see my films so ..but because of Baz, I saw Moulin Rouge, but I haven't seen much else. I have only seen this and Moulin Rouge in my whole career. *laughs*

Kyle: How can you not see your own stuff. How can you avoid it.

Nicole: I get worse as I get older. I don't know. I just kind of avoid it. I duck and weave...

Kyle: You know when I came down to the set...

Nicole: I squirmed a bit when I was watching it but I was laughing and I was really into it and I thought the whole film was ... I was amazed actually.

Jackie O: I was too. Did you wake up the next day and read reviews. Do you do that?

Nicole: No.

Jackie: No?

Nicole: No No no. I saw my sister and neices and nephews and Mum and Dad and we saw Keith's family and then we got on the plane.

Kyle: Then you took off.

Nicole: We ran! *laughs*

Kyle: You ran out of here.

Nicole: Yes...I didnt want to read anything *laughs* . I didn't want to know.

Kyle: Everyone loves it. Eating it up for breakfast. It is exactly what we expected. You know how there is a lot of build up to movies sometimes and you think "dont build it up too much, in case".

Nicole: That's lovely.

Kyle: And I've got to admit I still haven't seen it. I have to wait til it comes out in the rest of the country. Til it opens next week.

Nicole: You're going to get swept up in it.

Kyle: I am.

Jackie O: I thought this was your best performance in all your movies. Can you look at this movie, I know you don't like to look at your own movies, but can you look at this movie and say "Yes I did a really good job. I feel really proud of what I have done"?

Nicole: No. I sat there and looked at Keith and went "Am I any good in this"?

Jackie O: Really?

Nicole: But I thought Brandon and Hugh were wonderful.

Kyle *laughs*

Nicole: I did! Because I have no objectivity at all.

Kyle: It must be hard to watch yourself especially when you are playing another character, a different accent and everything. You are your own worse critic, right?

Nicole: Yes. And I also know what's in it and what didn't make it in the film. It's just impossible to connect to it emotionally. Stanley Kubrick used to say "When you read the script for the first time as an actor that is the only time when you will have an emotional response to it.

Kyle: Is that right?

Nicole: Yeah. And that's true really."

[Catherine]

I've always thought Nicole Kidman was a phenomenal actress and still is a phenomenal actress; she's one of the best actresses of our time. I thought she was fantastic in "Australia", she has nothing to be ashamed of. The chemistry between Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman was sensational.
Nicole shined throughout the whole movie; she was bold and powerful. It was a delight to see "Australia" and I'm looking to the release of "Nine"! Go Nicole! :)

[vince]

It is Amzing how much Nicoles comments have been taken out of context, it makes you question weather the media has any creadability left at all. She said those things not because of her performance but because she hates watching her films. And for the record she was INCREADABLE in Australia!

[Brenda]

Nicole is a good actress and she needs to stop listening to all these critics because they will say she did a terrible job no matter what. First of all I am shocked that Nicole would would doubt her own work that movie was a huge undertaking! She has been through hell and back in the last three years so lighten up on yourself Nicole. All any of us can do is the best we can do and I believe you do that and for me that makes your movies good enough to bring me to my local theatre so I can see you on the big screen.

[Sondra]

I loved seeing this film (3 times and counting!) and thought everyone was perfectly cast. As others have mentioned, I agree that Nicole should be kinder to herself- she nailed this role!GO GIRL!!!