Nicole Kidman covers W Mag with a blonde bouffant, crazy lips and Clive Owen

Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen star in HBO’s Hemingway & Gellhorn, the true story of Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn’s stormy, balls-out marriage (and divorce). I previewed the TV movie here, when the trailer came out. It looks… awful. Clive as Hemingway is an interesting choice, I guess, but quite honestly, I can’t see past Nicole’s crazy lips or her 44-year-old school-girl routine. To promote the film, Clive joined Nicole for the May cover of W Magazine. Nicole has long collaborated with W for interesting pictorials – in one of my favorites, circa 2007, she and Daniel Craig looked like they could eat each other up. That was a hot photo shoot. This one… is not. Clive looks kind of constipated and Nicole just looks… dear God. That blonde wig. Why do I feel like she went blonde specifically because she knew she was in talks to play Grace Kelly? Anyway, you can read Clive and Nicole’s full interviews here, and here are some highlights:

Clive on falling in love with his wife, Sarah-Jane Fenton, while playing Romeo to her Juliet: “After drama school I did a seven-month tour of Europe performing in Romeo and Juliet. I played Romeo. I was at the first rehearsal, thinking, I wonder what Juliet is going to be like, and she came in. She had a corduroy jacket on and was carrying a pile of secondhand books, and her glasses were falling off. I kind of fell in love at that moment… When we did the big balcony scene, I always thought we had this amazing connection. Much later, she admitted to me she couldn’t even see me because she’s so shortsighted, and she didn’t wear her glasses onstage [laughs]. At the time, I didn’t think it would be a great idea if Romeo and Juliet got together, so we didn’t do anything about our relationship until halfway through the run. We finally got together in Belfast, and now we have two daughters.”

Clive on sex scenes versus death scenes: “It’s much harder to do a death scene. You’ve got to do it convincingly, and it’s a huge thing to die [laughs]. Sex scenes are only hard if there’s no narrative conveyed through the sex scene. In the Hemingway film, the sex scenes have a story going through them. It’s part of who these people are and what they are.”

Clive on Hemingway: “As a writer, he doesn’t have the same impact in England as he does in America. I spent five, six months doing research. I went to his house outside Havana, Cuba. The incredible thing about the house, which his wife donated to the Cuban government, is that the moment he died, they locked the place down. They don’t usually let people inside, but they set it up for me. I got in Hemingway’s home, and everything is still there. His clothes are in the closet. His books. His typewriters. His coats are still hanging in the closet just as he left them…. I tried on his boots. I don’t think I’ve ever done anywhere near as much research for any part. It was hugely enjoyable to walk around hearing Hemingway’s voice in my head.”

Nicole Kidman on Martha Gellhorn: “I knew nothing about Martha, but I’ve always been drawn to unique women who are willing to take on the world. The exciting thing about this film is that you see her discovering her nature. At the beginning, she’s a lot of talk. She knows that she’s either got to get her hands dirty and become what she pretends to be or she’s a fraud. In the end, Gellhorn out-Hemingways Hemingway.”

Nicole’s first movie memory: “The Wizard of Oz. The Wicked Witch of the West had the biggest impact on me. When the striped stockings disappeared under the house, I wanted to become an actor. No, [I didn‘t want to play Dorothy.] I was always interested in the character roles. I thought the witch was much more fascinating than Dorothy.”

Nicole on her mom: “She always believed in me, but she’s tough on me too. She’s lived a life where she made a lot of compromises. She would have loved to be a doctor, but she didn’t come from the generation of women where she could go and be a doctor. She became a nurse instead. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a nurse, but she wanted to be a doctor. Until I won the Academy Award [for The Hours], I was kind of pursuing things to please her. I’ve really tried to sever that… She likes The Hours. And Moulin Rouge. She didn’t like Fur, but she said she’s going to rewatch it.”

Nicole on nudity: “I don’t mind being naked. Maybe as I get older, and now after having had a baby, it might be different, but I enjoy not letting my issues get in the way of a performance. Once I start putting all my little insecurities in my mind, I’m not actually acting. Then it’s about me—and it should never be about me. It should be about the character.”

[From W Magazine]

Meh. Clive always tells that story about meeting his wife. Almost like he’s reminding all of us that YES he’s married and that he and his lady met under wonderful circumstances – Romeo and Juliet, night after night on stage. As for the HBO film… look, I would love for it to a raging success. Clive needs some success, because he’s barely been working lately. But this film just looks like such a mess.

Photos courtesy of W Magazine.

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52 Responses to “Nicole Kidman covers W Mag with a blonde bouffant, crazy lips and Clive Owen”

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  1. Bite me says:

    Clive is a very handsome man… Nicole lips are interesting

  2. RovingLass says:

    I don’t know anything about Hemingway and Gellhorn’s marriage but if it was “stormy, balls-out marriage”, I’m not getting that from these pictures. No passion whatsoever.

    As for her lips, at least she doesn’t have the little balloon in her upper one anymore.

    • mary simon says:

      I agree. I could never stand her upper lip – it had such an odd shape – pinched high in the middle over her gums and each side overpuffed and hanging. It looks so much better, now. Not sure how that got corrected but I hope it stays that way.

  3. Marjalane says:

    hmmmmm. I have to say, that 4 minute clip was plenty enough of that disaster. Chemistry? No. Overacting on the part of Nicole Kidamn? Yes. The deep, gravelly, smokers voice interspersed with an Aussie accent was bizarre.

  4. Axel 5 says:

    I like the pic with him sitting on the bed.

  5. brin says:

    She reminds me of a young Ann Margaret in these pictures.

  6. Katie says:

    She looks ridiculous. But hello Clive! He’s very handsome and his voice is incredible. I could listen to that man talk forever.

    • Camille (The original) says:

      I agree, I adore him too. But that movie looks so bad. Poor Clive :(.

  7. serena says:

    The trailer isn’t so bad.. but the cover…jesus, that wig is so awful..
    I hate Clive’s mustache too (he seems like and old pervert).

    Oh and Nicole’s crazy lips are hunting me!! It’s unbearble!

    • deehunny says:

      The wig looks like someone ran it over twice with a shopping cart, left it for dead, and it miraculously survived by crawling atop Ms. Kidman’s head. Shame, because she really is a beautiful woman

  8. Tanguerita says:

    this is one unispired shooting. I hope for them both that the movie isn’t as boring.

  9. marie says:

    I always find Kidman boring, still can’t believe she’s up for the role of Grace Kelly, seems like a bad decision..

  10. Maya says:

    She is airbrushed to the point where she resembles Ann Margaret.
    I haven’t seen a Kidman flick in years. Can’t handle her acting style [straight from the Meg Ryan school of facial expressions].
    She must have a wonderful cosmetic surgeon for her lip augmentation; I remember when she was 17/18 and had no lips to speak of and was as freckled as.

    • MST says:

      The last film I saw her in was “Moulin Rouge,” which I thought was terrible. I like Nicole, but it seems like she’s box office poison nowadays. My favorite film of hers is “Far and Away” which she starred in with Tom Cruise. It was a flop and critically panned, but I liked it (but then I liked “Waterworld” and “Catwoman” too)!

  11. Rumorhasit says:

    Thought this was Robin Wright Penn at first glance, although I’m not sure if that’s the look Nicole was going for when she consulted with her surgeon.

  12. DuBarry says:

    Nicole looks better than you

  13. Mitzie Martin says:

    Around the 1 minute 1 minute 20 mark it looks painful for Nicole Kidman to speak 🙁 why is she still getting jobs?

  14. lower-case deb says:

    that is NOT nicole kidman, is it?

    i was staring at the cover pic for a LONG time. “Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman” was the first words that popped out at me. Like all well-trained reader of the magazines, I quickly tried to see the people.

    Oh yeah there’s Clive Owen. Who’s that woman? Where’s Nicole?

    took me a LONG time to recognize her.

  15. biteme says:

    I love Nicloe K, She looks good, there is much worst out there so i give her credit. Team Nick!!!

  16. keats says:

    I like Nicole, I do, but I feel like her look (or maybe acting style?) isn’t versatile enough to pull off biopic-style roles. I don’t know why exactly? Maybe I need a better imagination.

  17. skuddles says:

    meh

  18. Eve says:

    I can’t believe I’m going to say this but…I think she looks actually pretty here. However, if someone told me that that was a computer generated Kidman, I’d believe it.

  19. Hautie says:

    What kills me, is by forcing the blonde hair, Nicole looks like Lohan.

    Neither are pretty blondes. Yet both of them look incredible with the red hair.

    But flat out ghastly with the blonde. Ugh.

  20. foozy says:

    she looks like ann margret!!!! love nicole n clive. they look great!

  21. Nina says:

    Crazy lips? I think they actually look good for once, like she got corrective surgery or something.

  22. Gene Parmesan says:

    Clive has never done anything for me!!! and oh yes i remember that pictorial with Daniel Craig i remember thinking Nicole you bitch get off my man!

  23. Jackson says:

    I like the pics and I think she looks good!

  24. poppy says:

    can’t get past the horrendous wig. her comment @ not letting her insecurities interfere with her acting are laughable. naturally she wants us to see her naked. her body is all she has left after ruining her face.

  25. Erinn says:

    I can never stand to look at this woman’s mouth. At least in these photos you can’t really see her teeth. Her gums freak me out.

  26. eilis says:

    you can have jolie. kidman is gorgeous and a bombshell as a blonde.

  27. why says:

    Can they come up with a better WIG?!

  28. VV says:

    The photo shoot is crap but this show actually looks interesting, I am totally going to watch.

    Also, do you ever think maybe the lack of chemistry with his lead ladies has something to do with Owen always talking about his wife? I get the impression he tries for zero chemistry so to appear ever faithful. I know people think he and Julia Roberts had some great chemistry but I really did not see it. At all.

    In fact I have never really seen him smoldering with an actress.

    • polk8dot says:

      I always thought him overrated as a leading man. All his pairings with female leads in the last decade turned out wooden and frigid. I think the worst were: with Keira Knightley in ‘King Arthur’; with Anniston in ‘Derailed’ – oh, that union was PAINFUL to watch; and Julia Roberts in ‘Closer’. The teaming up with Angie in ‘Beyond Borders’ was yummy, but not necessarily thanks to him.
      Then last week I saw ‘Elizabeth, the Golden Age’ and it was a revelation! Finally a role that he really, trully, fulfilled the potential of, and elevated it to super heights. Oh, he was so fricking DREAMY in that movie, and the inspired casting opposite Cate Blanchet, with the forgettable but not offensive musings of Abbie Cornish made for one TRULY HOT Sir Walter Raleigh. Oh, how I wish it could be this way with every movie of his, since he does honestly still have a lot of potential. I think the label of a ‘STAR’ that was pinned on him somehow clipped his artistic wings, and he is still trying valiantly to recover from it.
      There are movies that change your whole perception of an actor you’ve know and loved/liked/tolerated for ages prior. Then you see this one, and it is like a revelation.
      I can’t stand Sean Penn, but I saw ‘At the Villa’ with him and Christine Scott-Thomas, and the pairing was so magnetic, so powerful, he seemed to just jump off the screen. I still can’t stand him, but if he walked into my life looking and living like that character, oh, we’d have a serious problem…. That’s exactly what ‘Elizabeth’ did for me with Clyde.
      As to Nicole – I wish she’d just disappear. Her acting was never great, but her inability to move the face, and by extension the need to express everything by head bobbing, turning, and tilting are beyond grating. I have not watched her since the ‘Golden Compas’ and 5 min of ‘Australia’, and I believe she ruined both these movies.

  29. joxjooze says:

    The photoshoot is awful, too less of Clive Owen to make up for this mess!:)

  30. Kim says:

    She does not make a good blond.

  31. bns says:

    Why didn’t you include the ridiculous quote about Nicole hearing Keith’s ‘first words’ after his surgery?

    My eyes were rolling so hard they started to hurt.

  32. holly hobby says:

    Nope she doesn’t look like Princess Grace at all. She looks cold and mean. Grace always looked elegant and serene. There is a difference.

  33. Alexis says:

    You sink ships when you cast Kidman these days. This horse needs to retire or seriously get her soul back.

  34. NYCGAL says:

    I love Nicole! I think she’s a classic beauty. I don’t get all the hate. I love Clive Owen too. Can’t wait to watch this on HBO.

  35. lauren says:

    I watched Far and Away with my hubby, and NK is bloodly lying when it she says her face is all natural! Her lips, cheeks, eyes, teeth are drastically different in these pics. Clive has a sexy thundering voice, lovely man indeed.

  36. Holden says:

    No wonder Clive looks so filled with regret in the last picture…

  37. sup says:

    what is that hair.

  38. blenheim says:

    I think she looks great! Yes she has clearly done things to her face but I think she looks better now she’s eased off the ‘tox.

    • polk8dot says:

      Seriously? And how do you know she ‘eased off’ the ‘tox?
      I keep reading it around the web, repeated though never substantiated, and I wonder – is it only her PR team’s skillful ploy? There is NOTHING that would make one honestly think that she stopped jacking her face.
      There is still NO expression there at all; there is still NO movement of any muscle; there is still NO single wrinkle which might prove that she is finally allowing her face to age.
      Natural beauty???? Bwahahahahahahah!! That is the funniest, most ridiculous thing that’s ever been said about this woman. Her skin is stretched sooooo taught it is about to snap, FFS.
      I do believe that she did stop at one point – when she was pregnant. She looked like a total mess then, with the wrinkles coming out and showing in every nook and cranny, and the hair…well, suffice it to say in 2 weeks she suddenly looked 15 years older, curiously – her natural age. I remember everyone applauding her for giving the ‘tox a break then, as if she did something really worth extolling the virtues of. But she is clearly back to her old ways. This is not the face of mid-40’s. This is not even the face of mid-30’s. She looks stunningly beautiful, sure – but it is a fake a$$ face on a fake a$$ body that looks like a frozen in time 29 year old.