Why Nicole Kidman’s future plans begin and end at not making any!
Approach Nicole Kidman for career advice and you may end up disappointed. The actress, producer, model and modern-day icon – four children, multiple business interests and over 40 years on camera – is unlikely to present a master blueprint for success, be that in cinema, or other industry.
“I’ve never really been the type of person to sit down and think about making plans,” she begins. “I’ve always been someone who is more comfortable operating from a spontaneous kind of place. At times, that does work in my favour, but other times I can fall flat on my face.
“The funny thing is that when it does go a little wrong, I always castigate myself and think that I need to be more ‘on it’ and that I should take a bit more time to decipher these things.
“Yet the reality is I just cannot do that – it’s just not in my nature. I am always up for progressing, for moving forward, for trying new things.
“I feel I owe it to myself to constantly want to give things a go.”
The Australian has certainly made an impressive career out of somewhat sketchy plans for the future. She has starred in over 70 films, with The Hours, Moulin Rouge!, The Beguiled and Eyes Wide Shut ranking as some of her finest.
Yet while so many of her peers have flagged, Kidman is someone who has always remained at the top of her game, and this year the wife of country singer Keith Urban, returns to the big screen in Holland, an American thriller that also stars Matthew Macfadyen.
Away from the bright lights, Kidman works as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador and commits time to the United Nations Development Fund for Women, explicit as she is in her goals to create a fairer world, particularly for women and children.
She is also dedicated to helping combat the scourge of breast cancer, which her mother battled when the actress was a teenager. Fortunately, Janelle survived the illness and had the great pleasure of seeing her daughter succeed at a level most can only dream of. When Janelle died suddenly in September of last year, the star was unable to collect her Best Actress prize at The Venice Film festival for her role in the provocative flick, Babygirl.
“She loved my career, she really did. She would be there through all the ups and downs, all of it. Her essence has been pretty much the driving force through my whole life.
“Even with her departed, family remains my anchor. It’s integral to who I am and it’s what I do this for.”
