Nicole Kidman AC (b. 1967), actor, began her film career as a teenager in the Australian ventures Bush Christmas and BMX Bandits (1983). After a strong performance in the TV mini-series Vietnam (1987) she starred in Dead Calm (1989). Her Hollywood debut came in Days of Thunder (1990), starring Tom Cruise. In 1995 she played Batman's ravishing girlfriend in Batman Forever, but also established her prodigious acting talent in To Die For, for which she won her first Best Actress Golden Globe. After Stanley Kubrick’s swansong Eyes Wide Shut, she won another Golden Globe for Moulin Rouge (2000). For her performance in The Hours (2002) she became the first Australian woman to win an acting Oscar and was named Best Actress at the BAFTAs and the Berlin Film Festival. In recent years Kidman has starred in very diverse ventures including Lars von Trier’s Dogville (2003), the comedy Bewitched (2005), Baz Luhrmann’s epic Australia (2008), the Australian drama The Railway Man (2013), the children’s film Paddington (2012), the drama Lion (2016) and Sophia Coppola’s thriller The Beguiled (2017). In 2017 she took out both the Emmy and the Golden Globe for her acting in Big Little Lies. Renowned worldwide for her elegance, she has appeared in advertisements for Chanel, Omega, Jimmy Choo and Etihad Airways.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
© Karin Catt
Accession number: 2005.106
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On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. The Companion is available to buy online and in the Portrait Gallery Store.
Michael Desmond discusses Irving Penn's photographic portrait of Nicole Kidman.
Australian photographer Karin Catt has shot across the spectrum of celebrity, her subjects including rock stars, world leaders and actors.
The exhibition Australians in Hollywood celebrated the achievements of Australians in the highly competitive American film industry.
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