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.