Nicole Kidman: “I’m in a place where I just don’t want to take on too much”

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 03: Actress Nicole Kidman discusses the new film Rabbit Hole at the Apple Store Soho on December 3, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)

Nicole Kidman is one of those people I just enjoy. Do I make fun of her BotoxFace? Of course. Do I hold my breath to see what she’s wearing? Yep. Do I read every single interview she does? Absolutely. Nicole is full of crap most of the time, but she’s one of the most unintentionally funny celebrities out there. I want the best for her, I really do. And nothing pleases me more as when she is trying to convince me that her life is so charmed and special. For some reason, Nicole bring out my rage like, say, Gwyneth Paltrow, although there are “frozen, icy bitch” comparisons to be made. Mostly I just want Nicole to stop messing with her face and mostly I want to punch Goopy in her smug face. Weird. Anyway, Nic has a new interview with the Associated Press/HuffPo to promote Rabbit Hole – she was nominated for a Golden Globe for it, so things are looking up for Ol’ BotoxFace.

Nicole Kidman is giving audiences grief with her latest drama, “Rabbit Hole,” playing a disconsolate woman coping with the death of her child. Yet 10 years after one of Hollywood’s most-publicized splits, the breakup of her marriage to Tom Cruise, Kidman is in the happiest of places, with little to sob about.

After a shaky few years when she made such duds as “The Stepford Wives,” “Bewitched,” “The Golden Compass” and “The Invasion,” Kidman is back in Academy Awards contention for the first time since back-to-back nominations for 2001’s “Moulin Rouge!” and 2002’s “The Hours,” which earned her a best-actress Oscar. Kidman also is a producer on “Rabbit Hole,” opening Friday as the first release from her production company, Blossom Films.

She’s four years into her marriage with country music star Keith Urban. Kidman, who had a miscarriage while married to Cruise, now has a 2-year-old daughter with Urban. The family has settled so comfortably at their Nashville home that Kidman is not terribly inclined to rush out looking for work.

“I’m in a place where I just don’t want to take on too much,” Kidman, 43, said in an interview. “It’s not about, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got to get all these things for myself,’ because I love being at home. But you know, my husband and my mother will say, `You shouldn’t just abandon your talent. You should still get out there and do some things every now and then, because you’ll appreciate that over the next couple of decades.’ And I suppose deep down, I know they’re right, because part of me could easily just keep nesting and staying at home. It’s really nice.”

Kidman never seems to stay in nesting mode for long. She is preparing to shoot the HBO movie “Hemingway & Gellhorn,” playing war correspondent Martha Gellhorn opposite Clive Owen as Ernest Hemingway. Then she is signed for director Lasse Hallstrom’s “The Danish Girl,” based on a novel inspired by painter Einar Wegener, the first man to have a sex-change operation. Kidman also has a supporting role in Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston’s comedy “Just Go With It,” coming next year.

All this comes on top of her own filmmaking chores, some only as producer, some to develop good roles for herself, always an issue for actors as they get older and choice parts dry up. Rather than playing it safe, Kidman seeks out edgy filmmakers – Lars von Trier, who directed her in an arthouse variation of torture-porn in “Dogville,” or Noah Baumbach, for whom she delivered a mercilessly raw performance in the sibling drama “Margot at the Wedding.” Likewise, for “Rabbit Hole,” Kidman brought in John Cameron Mitchell to direct, an unlikely choice for a somber drama given the outrageous sexual and social exploits in his previous films, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “Shortbus.”

Kidman clearly knows how to do smaller, more personal stories such as “Rabbit Hole.” The film earned her a Golden Globe nomination, and she seems a safe bet for her third best-actress slot at the Oscars. Based on David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Rabbit Hole” stars Kidman and Eckhart as a couple straining to save their marriage and make sense of the death of their young son in a traffic accident. A tough story to watch. Even tougher to perform in.

“It was kind of like, why am I doing this? Am I masochistic? But at the same time, I felt compelled to tell the story,” Kidman said. “There’s no right or wrong way of navigating grief, and this is just a study, almost like a case study, of it, of two people and their marriage and their family, and how they somehow move through it. But they move through it moving toward each other rather than away. They say 80 percent of couples that go through this don’t make it, but I didn’t want to make that movie.”

The movies Kidman does want to make are varied. She and producing partner Per Saari are looking for stories that need a helping hand amid uncertain times in the film world, when studios are interested mainly in the next blockbuster and filmmakers with challenging scripts are scrounging.

“It’s not like some huge offices or anything. We have a laptop, and we make phone calls, but there’s just the two of us, and we just have a couple of things that we’re really invested in,” Kidman said. Among potential projects are a remake of Marilyn Monroe’s “How to Marry a Millionaire,” in which Kidman would not star, and a film biography of singer Dusty Springfield, in which she’s not sure if she would act. They have the rights for Chris Cleave’s novel “Little Bee,” a tale in which Kidman does hope to star about the relationship between an Englishwoman and a teenage Nigerian refugee who has undergone terrible trauma.

Kidman, who has two adopted teenagers with Cruise in addition to her and Urban’s daughter, said she was able to hurl herself into the role of bereaved mother with little preparation.

“It took me so long to get pregnant and have a baby, so I have enormous gratitude. I have two grown children with that enormous gratitude that they are healthy and sane and together and are great, great people. So my sense of knowing what I have, I’m not one of those people that needs to be reminded of what I have,” Kidman said. “But I suppose my compassion, my ability to just – I can weep when I hear the stories that people tell me of what they’re going through. So my heart is open to that because of this film, because I’ve kind of put my toe in the water, in a way.”

[From The Huffington Post]

See? You never really want to punch her. Even when she’s talking about her two older children like they’re afterthoughts (sketchy) or when she’s giving us a line about how she doesn’t feel the need to work. Here’s a tip, Nicole: people who don’t feel the need to work simply don’t. They disappear for a few years, and do whatever. Nicole works all the time. But don’t you love this: “But you know, my husband and my mother will say, `You shouldn’t just abandon your talent.’” If Goopy had said that, she would have changed it to “My dear friend Deepak Chopra and my other best friend Barack Obama both called me yesterday and asked ‘Why don’t you work more? You are a glorious, amazing talent.’ And I told them ‘I can‘t grace you with my presence all the time, because I prioritize my children so much, you know.’”

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 03: Actress Nicole Kidman discusses the new film Rabbit Hole at the Apple Store Soho on December 3, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)

Dec. 2, 2010 - New York, New York, U.S. - NICOLE KIDMAN arriving at the premiere of ''Rabbit Hole'' at The Paris Theatre in New York City on 12-02-2010.  2010..K66340HMc. © Red Carpet Pictures

Dec. 2, 2010 - New York, New York, U.S. - ''Rabbit Hole'' New York Premiere.Paris Theater, NYC.December 2, 2010.Photos by ,  Photos Inc 2010. NICOLE KIDMAN .K66339SMO. © Red Carpet Pictures

48116, NEW YORK, NEW YORK - Thursday December 2, 2010. Nicole Kidman holds onto husband Keith Urban as the two, dressed in formal attire, get into a waiting car outside of their NYC apartment. Photograph: PacificCoastNews.com

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52 Responses to “Nicole Kidman: “I’m in a place where I just don’t want to take on too much””

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  1. anti says:

    her hair is yellow now?

  2. brin says:

    Hilarious….I don’t know so much about Nicole, but you sure have Goopy down!

  3. RHONYC says:

    look.

    she had me at ‘dead calm’ ok.

    i will always love nicole kidman.

    that is all. 🙂

  4. sapphire says:

    I wish she’d fix the eyebrows-they’ve been a problem for years and more arch would de-emphasize the ‘tox effect.

    I hate the current phrase “in a place”. We are all freaking “in a place”.

  5. la_chica says:

    I think the complete quote should read: “I’m in a place where I just don’t want to take on too much…

    …and obviously, I can’t move my face, so there’s that.”

  6. Canuck says:

    Thank god her face looks more like her face these days. There was a while there that she looked like a completely different person.

  7. normades says:

    She is full of crap, she took that role in Australia when Sunday was like 4 months old. But whatevs

    Regarding her older children, I think Tom controls them and she was cut out

  8. Jayna says:

    I love her. Her hair color is stunning and she’s back to how she used to look. Don’t work too much. Keith has such addiction issues that I bet he doesn’t need too much free time on his hands.

  9. Jayna says:

    Normades, she found out she was pregnant during the shooting of Australia, so highly unlikely the baby was four months old. LOL

    When the baby was several months old, she took the role in Nine, and it was a three-week shoot, and the baby and Keith were with her.

  10. Franny says:

    i think instead of making fun of her toxface (which is real bad), you should go after that hair. what.the.hell is that color? as a ~poor college student, my hair looks better than that. babypoop yellow is not a good look for anyone.

  11. LIZ says:

    I just read her interview in USA Today and it drives me crazy when she talks about how motherhood (W/ Sunday) changed her priorities. She spoke as if she was a first time Mom.

  12. K-MAC says:

    I love your comments….they make me laugh in the best way and Goopy is a pain while, Nicole, is just who she is and I adore that.

  13. gloaming says:

    Very funny post!

    I saw Rabbit Hole the other night and she’s wonderful in it. She’s able to portray emotion in her face now so I hope she’s stopped messing with it.

  14. sami says:

    i like her and keith . and both are really nice when you see them here in tenn .went for coffee in nashville and they werein line just like everyone else. no im a star let me go frist was really nice . to see them so down to earth

  15. REALIST says:

    On no! Clive as Hemingway? That’s just wrong. IMO, Hemingway was a macho man misogynist and Clive is…Clive. Also, aren’t there plenty of American actors who could do the part just as well? No dissing my man, but we have to look out for our own.
    Of course, Nicole plays Americans all the time….

  16. fanny says:

    Nicole is stunning to say the least. I saw her in The Golden Compass and she was the best looking “evil” person I’ve ever seen. I also saw her in the movie she did with Tom Cruise. IMO they were fantastic together in that. This surprised me because the critics said they didn’t have chemistry. I guess she is trying to tone down the red but whatever color she has there is no denying her beautiful facial features.

  17. Johnny Depp's Girl says:

    @RHONYC….. Ditto.

    Love her to death.

  18. Ella says:

    She’s beautiful and sweet.
    I like her a lot.

  19. normades says:

    @Jayna

    OK, so I looked it up. Sunday was 1 month old when Nicole did reshots of Australia. and like you said she worked on nine when she was several months old.

    My point is is that she says she wants to slow down, but she’s full of crap because she hasn’t.

  20. susanne says:

    She looks amazing in the top two photos. Hot and bitchy. I wish I looked just like that. From every angle, at all times.

  21. Bella Bella says:

    Oh, I’m sorry. I love her. I always have and I always will. Even when that hot bitches face won’t pinch to show an ounce of emotion I still love her.

  22. Rachael says:

    HI. LARIOUS.

  23. sharylmj says:

    I love her too.. always have, always will. I’m glad she is happy, and MAN her husband is HOT!!! good for her!! 🙂

  24. someone says:

    I’ve been a fan a really long time, Im not gonna stop no matter what she does..

  25. Cyui says:

    Both Cruise and Nichole said their older kids don’t want them talking about them in public. Which would sound right ….I don’t hear alot about slot of stars kids cause not all kids want to be running around under their parents spotlight. Also people in movies on work a few months out of the yr and Nichole did disappear for a few yrs, check wikipedia.

  26. Lovely says:

    Sorry but I don’t see anything wrong with her. She’s classy, talented, intelligent, down-to-earth. But I see a lot of wrong with you, ‘Kaiser'(ahem) and other people here. So much hate, you’re probably pretty unhappy with your life, and with yourself. You seem to hate on Kidman because she’s everything you’re not and has everything you don’t have.

    Oh and if you want to see her forehead ‘move’ (huh?), you should see ‘Rabbit Hole’. You’ll then also realize that she’s one of the very best actresses out there.

  27. Nell says:

    Kidman speaks Kidmanese. It’s a language that really doesn’t say anything. It’s so convoluted, that she can always go back and say something was taken out of context. The fact is, she wants you to think people beg her to stay in her profession. The truth is, she would probably drive anyone around her completely insane if she wasn’t in the spotlight.

  28. Eleonor says:

    What’s wrong with her hair?

  29. skibunny says:

    I really like her too. She’s a great actress and beautiful as well.

  30. Cyui says:

    I love her too and her charity work.

  31. Solveig says:

    I want to see Rabbit Hole, and she should be prosecuted for having done THAT to her face.
    To me she sounds quite confused and naive, I don’t get that “bitch please” snotty vibe from her.

  32. cici says:

    more power to nicole kidman. she has lived her life quietly and graciously for decades in the face of WHO THE HELL KNOWS WHAT. i think she’s beautiful and wish her the best.

  33. Bam Bam says:

    I don’t get the hate, did she do something to deserve it that I missed? beside the botox? Seems sweet and classy to me.

  34. RobN says:

    I always get the “I’m actually shy and would prefer to be left alone” vibe from her. I think it’s a nice change from most actress/attention whores. She’s happy and content and that isn’t an easy thing to achieve. Good for her.

  35. ziggy says:

    botoxed or not, that top picture of nicole is the best she’s looked in ages….except for the hair color.

  36. Majosha says:

    “she has lived her life quietly and graciously for decades in the face of WHO THE HELL KNOWS WHAT.”

    For real. God only knows what kind of crazy sh*t she’s endured as a result of her affiliation with Tom and his fellow CoS nuts.

  37. Ron says:

    FYI Australia filmed in AU in 2007 and was relased in 2008. Her daughter was born in July 7,2008 so she didn’t abandon her daughter to head off to work. Even if she had, how would that make her any different than any other working Mom?

    Kaiser–I laughed out loud when i read the goopy translation! Hilarious!

  38. Hautie says:

    The long hair is not hers… it is a wig. Or maybe just a fall. But she did not grow it herself. So that odd yellow color is not natural.

    I suspect her natural hair is still recovering… from all the awful bleach she used…. to keep it ultra white blond.

    But at least she is staying towards the auburn shades now. The reds just warm up her looks and makes her look young again.

    I am still curious what she used to bleached all her freckles away with. Nicole had a face full of freckles in Dead Calm and Days of Thunder. But has none now…

    And I completely agree that she pretty much got banned from her older children daily lives. Isn’t that one of the cults rules. By her refusing to join and then divorcing the tiny one… she pretty much got ran out of their lives.

  39. Green Is Good says:

    It’s not like Nicole has to “work”. She has her divorce settlement from Tommy-Girl, and her own income that she earned.

  40. Becky says:

    I’m neutral on Nicole. But girl needs some serious Visine.

  41. Jaye E says:

    @Lovely, I don’t get where your self-righteous tut tutting is coming from. MOST of the comments here are very much pro-Nicole. Even Kaiser said she enjoyed her. There wasn’t anything particularly negative stated except for NK’s obvious love for fillers and botox and her seeming amnesia when it comes to her older kids. And even THAT ribbing was mild in comparison to the jabs and GOOPY.

  42. Zelda says:

    She speaks about her older children like they’re old college friends she loves but has been out of touch with.
    Weird.

  43. Emily says:

    “Yet 10 years after one of Hollywood’s most-publicized splits, the breakup of her marriage to Tom Cruise, Kidman is in the happiest of places, with little to sob about.”
    Is it just me, or does this make it sound like it’s unusual that she’s not curled up on a couch watching her wedding day video and eating TimTams?

  44. Maritza says:

    She looks so much better with her own strawberry blond hair and her face is looking more normal these days.

  45. kelly says:

    “I’m in a place where I just don’t want to take on too much.”

    STAY
    THERE.

  46. Whatever says:

    Regarding her older children, I think Tom controls them and she was cut out

    Yep. Nicole is considered a suppressive person and those poor kids are ass deep in that bullshit, thanks to their father. Those kids are brainwashed, like all Scientolo-kids. Maybe one day when Isabella escapes the cult, she can reunite with her mother.

    I also don’t see anything wrong with her interview. She sounds like a good person who is happy with her man and her baby. Nice. So what if she works a few months each year? Some moms have to leave their 6 week old baby with a sitter or in daycare to go work in an office for 40 hours every week. Her gig sounds waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy easier.

  47. Abby says:

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

    That impression of Goopy was the best. “My dear friend Dee, some of you may know him as Deepak Chopra..”

  48. Shay says:

    She is in a place where she can’t take on too much?
    Too much what?
    Botox?
    Harrrrrrrrrrr! Couldn’t help myself. Sorry.

  49. daisydoodle says:

    alright, a couple of things…I think she was put through hell with the whole Tom Cruise thing, essentially, giving up her children in the settlement. I get Kaiser’s opinion of both of these actresses, they both are egomaniacs that really need the media to stay relevant. Nicole’s hair has been processed to death, changing the color and straightening it for decades. For the botox, yes there is a way to keep it less severe, but, as someone that has dabbled in the “big b”, you have to have someone who can use “less is more” approach.

  50. lasherola says:

    I don’t care……I LOVE HER!! No matter what she does. Yes, she has gone overboard on her face, It can’t be easy for women in that industry. I think this will pass and she will settle into some acceptance with aging, and go back to being tha amazing talent that she is.

  51. Jeri says:

    She really does have talent and beauty, which has survived the botox/injections.

    And, surviving Tom Cruise may one of her greatest accomplishments. Really must piss him off that she won’t just go away like Mimi, and the b-tch went and won an oscar AFTER they split.

  52. Mota says:

    She doesn’t want to do much work now, b/c unless she produces it and finances it (Like Rabbit Hole –who no one is going to see), she is not being offered movie roles. That is b/c she is box office poison.

    BTW she is producing and financing The Danish Girl (which both Charline Theron and Goop backed out of b/c she’s difficult to work with.)