Doesn’t it feel like Nicole Kidman had a hell of a lot of fun promoting Babygirl? Usually, she does these dark, serious roles and she sort of slogs through the promotion. But she enjoyed herself on this run, or at least she was before she was snubbed for SAG & Oscar noms. Nicole has also spoke about how she feels like she’s in an unique position to say “yes” to female directors and first-time directors, and that’s why she’s been working so much in recent years…and all of that has resulted in even more cultural power and even more fame and respect. Nicole recently chatted to Variety about Babygirl, Stanley Kubrick, fashion and more. Some highlights:

Whether her character or Harris Dickinson’s character is the babygirl. “Both, right? As Halina says in the ‘father figure’ scene, we’re not quite sure who’s the daddy. One minute I’m the daddy, next minute he’s the daddy, which is what I love about the way in which she depicts the generations, the way in which power doesn’t matter what age you are, how it shifts. I think everything’s subverted in this film.”

How she reads scripts for the first time: “Well, if it’s a good script, I mean, I sit down and I start reading. And then if it holds me, I just read and I don’t stop. And then I make notes, immediately. Kubrick taught me that. He said, “Because there’s no other thing than the first read. After that, it’s all going to be a slightly different response reaction, but it won’t be immediate and intuitive.” And all the ideas that appear or the lack of things in there. So he used to send you the script in an envelope and say, “I’m going to pick it up in two hours,” and then he would take it back, to make sure that you sat and read it.

How she works so much to ensure that female filmmakers are getting work: “That [answer] went everywhere. Thank you. It was just us talking on the red carpet. I get to put my weight and my power and my voice behind people that are either having second chances, third chances, beginning or needing guidance. That’s a purpose for me, so I’m happy to be doing it.

The year she wore the Galliano dress to the Oscars: That’s when Madonna and Courtney Love said to me, “Best dressed,” and I was like, “What? Oh my God.” Both of them. They made my year.

She’s never won a SAG Award: “I’ve been nominated rarely too…You get certain things that sit deeply within you when other actors see what you’ve done on screen and appreciate it or understand it — particularly with this film. I’ve had different actors talk to me about it and it’s like they get it. They know what it takes to do particularly this kind of sexuality on screen. When an actor goes, “I know what that took,” that’s when you go, “Oh, thank you.” And a couple of actors who are really close friends of mine, whose opinions I so value and they’re tough, have talked to me in depth about it. And it’s like when you said you love the film, you’re like, almost, “Can I hug you?” Because it’s like being understood and seen, and that’s a very powerful thing when it happens.

[From Variety]

There were some other interesting quotes about Babygirl but I found them sort of spoilery, and I haven’t even seen the movie yet, so I don’t want to ruin it for other people. But you get the idea, Nicole is really proud of Babygirl and this is probably the most confident era of her career. This is really beautiful: “I get to put my weight and my power and my voice behind people that are either having second chances, third chances, beginning or needing guidance. That’s a purpose for me.” That IS it, isn’t it? I’m so glad that she weathered the strange phase where she was getting the worst f–king scripts and everyone thought she was over.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.