Nicole Kidman is currently promoting Prime’s Scarpetta, based on the Kay Scarpetta books by Patricia Cornwell. Currently, I’m debating whether to watch it. Reasons to watch it: I like Nicole and I know she really believes in this, and I like a crime/procedural story. Reasons not to watch it: I don’t really like coroner/medical examiner shows and Jamie Lee Curtis is in it. Let me know! Anyway, Nicole covers the latest issue of Variety and she’s talking Scarpetta, her history at the Oscars, the long-awaited Practical Magic sequel and, oh right, her divorce from Keith Urban. Some highlights:

Every year is the year of Kidman: “Well, not last year. I was quiet. I had other things going on. I was in my shell. Now I’m in a place of saying, “2026. Here we go.” I have “Practical Magic” with Sandy. I’ll be in full witch mode.

Wearing John Galliano at the 1997 Oscars: “Well, it ignited European couture for the carpet. It was never like that before. The clothes were nice, but the idea of combining the couture houses with something as prestigious as the Oscars? That’s just a given now. What comes out of that is those dream images that little girls look at — or people try to find versions of it for their lives… I remember being nervous because of the color, and then seeing Madonna that night and she said, “Best dress!” All I could say back was “You smell so good.” She did. She had the softest skin. You know who else smells so good? Rihanna. Intoxicating. I sat next to her at the Met. 

The Oscar campaign process when she was nominated for Moulin Rouge: “It was very different then. There wasn’t much to do. It got more and more intense throughout the years. I don’t really remember there being much with “The Hours.” There were a few Q&As, but it wasn’t a lot. Now it starts in September and finishes in March. If you do Cannes, it starts in May. Like, what? How did that happen? 

Winning the Oscar in 2003, right after the US invaded Iraq: “Well, it wasn’t just the days before the Oscars — it was throughout that whole period. I remember at the BAFTAs that year, we all wore black. It was a dampened-down ceremony, appropriately so. But there was still an incredible embracing of art and continuing the show in line with the legacy of Hollywood.

On the idea that she won the Oscar for “uglying up” with a fake nose: “Whatever. People are always going to say whatever. The performance was there. Ann Roth, Stephen Daldry and David Hare all agreed they wanted Virginia to have a different profile than mine. My profile is very distinct, and it needed to be different. I have a very particular nose. I like when I’m able to change up my appearance, as someone trained to be a character actor. Some people are employed to look and be exactly themselves. I’ve been trained as a character actor, so therefore when I’m working, I’m not here to be Nicole. On a talk show, I am, but not in a film or play or TV show. If that means changing my physical appearance? Of course. You have to walk differently, breathe differently, talk differently. The timbre of your voice has to change. All of the internal mechanisms affect the external.

How she’s doing after her split from Keith: “I am [doing alright], because I’m always going to be moving toward what’s good. What I’m grateful for is my family and keeping them as is and moving forward. That’s that. Everything else I don’t discuss out of respect. I’m staying in a place of, “We are a family,” and that’s what we’ll continue to be. My beautiful girls, my darlings, who are suddenly women.

She gets into an on-screen altercation with JLC in Scarpetta: “Jamie Lee and I have a physical fight in this show. Sisters go at it. Someone recently told me they could watch us fight until the end of time. 

Why she came back to Practical Magic: “I love Sandy [Bullock]. I love her. And we’re so different. I’m like [makes a wild noise with her mouth] and she’s so measured and together. We’re like sisters. I have so much protection and love for her. We also have incredible chemistry. We produce differently. She’s incredibly hands-on, and I love delegating. We have different skill sets that become complementary. It’s amazing that we still know each other. Joey King and the new cast are amazing, and Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest are coming back. 

She brought in Susanna Bier to direct Practical Magic 2: “It’s so good to have found a purpose in terms of that work, being able to shift something culturally at a time where you just go, “Well, yeah, I work a lot, and I’m hoping to be able to give female directors and writers far more of a chance through my own showing up and being in the thing.” And then I also produce when I’m not in them. I love working with men too — like David Gordon Green on “Scarpetta,” Osgood [Perkins], obviously Baz Luhrmann. Men’s voices are very distinct. They’re able to edit. They’re able to operate a camera. They love shots. They’re cinephiles, and they’re fantastic to work with because we have the same language.

[From Variety]

That last part is a bit cringe – women directors know how to edit too, Nicole! Women can operate a camera as well! Jeez. I know she was trying to say: I’m not against working with men, I love male directors too. But it came out the wrong way. It also makes sense that she would sign up for Practical Magic 2 simply because she loves Sandy Bullock. I have something disturbing to announce about PM2: Aidan Quinn isn’t in it!! He didn’t return for the sequel! Crazy. But Lee Pace is in it, hot damn. Anyway, I love how Nicole and her fans reacted to her split from Keith. It was basically a shrug, and “okay, let’s get back to work, let’s keep booking these projects.” Atta girl.

This week’s cover story:

Under Nicole Kidman's Spell: The Icon on Her Buzziest Oscar Moments, Life After Divorce and Insisting 'Practical Magic 2' Hire a Female Directorhttps://t.co/fimdAtTQA8 pic.twitter.com/k7JPl1YTpa

— Variety (@Variety) March 11, 2026

Photos courtesy of Backgrid and Look Press Agency/Look Press/Avalon.