Nicole Kidman

A comprehensive study of Nicole Kidman’s work through the lens of ten of her most iconic roles

Nicole Kidman (b.1967), internationally renowned and one of the most celebrated actors of her generation, has starred in a host of award- winning movies. She came to worldwide recognition for her roles in Days of Thunder (1990), Far and Away (1992), and Eyes Wide Shut (1995), and has since been the recipient of numerous Golden Globe awards. Her performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours (2002) received an Oscar for Best Actress.

The Anatomy of an Actor series takes ten roles by a single actor, each studied in a dedicated chapter, and identifies the key elements that made the performances exceptional – carefully examining the actor’s craft for both a professional audience and movie fans alike. Arguably the biggest star of his generation, Leonardo DiCaprio (b. 1974) is also one of its finest actors. Since first gaining attention in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape at only 19 years old, he has consistently been in the public eye: notably in record-breaking Titanic in 1997, and most recently as the lead in Wolf of Wall Street, nominated for five Oscars.

To the Lighthouse is Virginia Woolf's arresting analysis of domestic family life, centering on the Ramseys and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland in the early 1900s. Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge, Eyes Wide Shut), who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Woolf in the film adaptation of Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Hours, brings the impressionistic prose of this classic to vibrant life.

Split into three parts, the story observes Mrs. Ramsay, Mr. Ramsey, and their children at their vacation house on the Isle of Skye. While the novel follows seemingly trivial events between the family members, the plot takes a backseat to philosophical introspection, which gave the novel its fame as an icon of modernist literature. The Ramseys' quest to recapture meaning creates a powerful allegory of man's impermanent battle with the tangible world.

Hollywood superstar Nicole Kidman, a breathtaking beauty and versatile performer, is ranked by most movie insiders as one of the top actresses of her generation. But, for years, her professional success was offset by her mother's battle with breast cancer and a shattering divorce from Tom Cruise, with whom she had adopted two children.The divorce turned her world upside down. She eventually landed on her feet, but the years in between were chaotic and marked by poor relationship and career choices.

Born in Hawaii and raised in Australia, Nicole was an awkward child who did not blossom until her teen years. Supported by activist parents (her father is a well-known psychologist in Australia) she quickly became an award-winning ingénue in Australia. Her role in the acclaimed thriller Dead Calm grabbed the attention of moviegoers as well as that of Tom Cruise, who asked her to audition for his upcoming film, "Days of Thunder."

By the 1990s, Tom and Nicole had married and Nicole was appearing in one movie after another. Her breakthrough role came in 1995 with "To Die For," in which she played the role of a television weathergirl who kills her husband. Several releases later she co-starred with Tom in the sexual psychodrama, "Eyes Wide Shut," directed by the legendary film director Stanley Kubrick. The film generated a firestorm of publicity, primarily because of its graphic sexual content. With shocking insight, this book takes you behind the scenes while the movie was being made.

For two of her recent films, "Paperboy" and "Fur," Nicole returned to two of her favorite themes—infidelity and sexual exhibitionism. Both films brought comparisons to two cutting-edge relationship stories, "To Die For" and "Eyes Wide Shut."

After a string of disastrous relationships, including romances with rapper Q-Tip and musician Lenny Kravitz–she fell in love with country star Keith Urban and they married in 2006 after a courtship of about a year. She had a child with Keith and then had a second daughter with the help of a surrogate mother. Today they live in Nashville, Tennessee, far away from the glitter of Hollywood.