Nicole Kidman has never shied away from a sexually charged role. But at 57, her new film Babygirl might be her wildest yet given what the Australian actress has divulged during her press junket.
In it, she plays Romy, a CEO with a handsome and devoted husband, and two wonderful daughters. But she wants more.
Recent comments about needing to take a “pause” whilst filming graphic sex scenes with her co-stars Antonio Banderas and Harris Dickinson have made global headlines, but that’s not all she said in the now-famous interview.
Here, we’ve got the full transcript.
Nicole, what was on your mind when you were first approached with this project? You’ve always been an actress who’s willing to take risks in your work, but there is also really nothing like Babygirl being made right now.
NICOLE KIDMAN: I mean, I don’t see it as a risk. I see it as an opportunity. So, for me, it’s a ‘Wow!’ I read the script and I knew the title, and I was like, ‘Right, that’s my film. [laughs] I don’t care what it’s about, but I’ll make it.’ So we [director Halina Reijn and I] were circling each other. Halina had come in and written something for us at Blossom [Films, Kidman’s production company]. And I knew of her work from ‘Instinct’ onwards. I sort of find people that I’m fascinated by – and I was fascinated by her. And then we would talk on the phone with other things, the things that were going on in our lives, and we’d sort of cross our paths. And then Babygirl arrived, and I sat down and read it, and I was just like, ‘Oh, finally!’ It was sort of like, ‘If I don’t play this, if I don’t get to make this, it will be so devastatingly painful.’ Because it was like I read it, and I got it, I understood it.
We talked on the phone for almost an hour-and-a-half/two hours just about everything and dissected it and went through it. And just the themes of it and everything it was about, I was like, ‘No, I understand. I know this.’ And then as an actor, you’re in a position always where you have to be chosen.
We’re not the writer/director, we are the person that a director goes, ‘I want you.’ So we’re not in a position of control so much, and I think people think we are, but we’re not, you know? So when something comes your way, particularly at this age where you go, ‘Ahh what?’ – it was just a gift. And then it’s like, ‘Let’s go on the journey.’ So there’s no, bravery involved. It’s more just how do we really fully realise it, with all the constraints that come with filmmaking and the financial part of it – everything? And getting the right actors. And so that’s how I always see something that’s really, really good.
This film is so much about Romy’s journey to getting comfortable with admitting what she wants from intimacy to other people, but also herself?
KIDMAN: And discovering as well. It’s almost like not knowing. I think that, for me, a lot of the time in my life, it is a discovery. And as I go along, I go,’ I didn’t even actually know that about myself. I didn’t know that’s what I wanted, that’s what I needed, that’s what I was seeking.’ And I think that sort of winding path of discovery… because people say, ‘Oh, what do you really want? Bear your soul…’, particularly when you’re in a relationship, and you’re like, ‘I’m not sure.’ And it changes. And that’s what I love about the way Halina wrote it. It was like a discovery for Romy through the whole film. And it’s a crisis.
What’s great about the relationship your character has with Harris Dickinson’s is they are figuring things out as they go along. And sometimes it doesn’t quite go smoothly. Sometimes it’s very sexy. Was it important in building that dynamic to leave room for it to be a little awkward, or a little funny at times?
KIDMAN: Yeah. I mean, I read the script and I thought it was so funny. So that’s me. But I also was turned on by it. I was also sort of hypnotized, and I just loved that I never knew what was going to happen next. And even though it’s in the genre of those nineties thrillers, it doesn’t take those turns, and nothing is what it seems as it unravels.
And I also loved – because she’s [Reijn] such a great actress – so I have to say working with a woman who can act is fabulous. It’s so good. Because I’d be like, ‘Halina, do it for me? Do it. Tell me.’ And then because she wants to explore, she allows you to then take it and make it your own. She’s not like, ‘I need you to say it rhythmically this way or anything like that. But she can give you a grasp of what the structure is or what the staging is, or her ideas of it because she’s written it, she knows it, it’s deeply personal, and so you have this extraordinary sort of guide that will then go, ‘But now it’s yours, go play.’ And we had a fantastic cinematographer as well who, when you work with a great cinematographer, they will feel you, they will dance with you, they will be a part of you.
And the other thing I love is that when they’re working together, because they’ve worked together before, so Jasper [Wolf] and Halina were very close, but they also roll the camera when you don’t know, which is fantastic. Just saying any directors out there, it’s a really great thing because so much of what you’re trying to capture is when you’re not acting. So suddenly they’d be rolling, and they would just capture it. And I stay in character so that that will be captured at any time. It’s like you’re on stage, but you’re on stage for months. Because you can’t break.
That must be difficult?
KIDMAN: And unfortunately, when you have a family at home and everything, there has to be a sort of an agreement that’s made where you go, ‘I’m now going to go into this and I’m asking your permission to let me go.’ And I have now teenage children who sort of understand it and a husband who’s also an artist. So there’s a releasing of you into your artistic life and then you come back to your home and your real life.
But there is a sort of a letting go that’s required.
Let’s talk about the sex scenes and your vulnerability in that situation. Was there one, in particular, that you felt was the biggest challenge or was the most memorable to film?
KIDMAN: I mean, what goes in the film and what doesn’t go in the film is ultimately decided in the editing room. So there’s an enormous amount that you’ve done that penetrates [laughs] a film, whether it’s actually in the film ultimately or not. So there was so much in terms of exposure and just being with Harris and Antonio [Banderas] and Halina.
And it really was a foursome, because we were all in it together and there was an enormous amount of sharing and trust and then frustration. It’s like, ‘Don’t touch me!’ There was times when we were shooting where I was like, ‘I don’t want to orgasm anymore! Don’t come near me! I hate doing this! I don’t care if I never am touched again in my life. I’m over it!’ It was so present all the time for me that it was almost like a burnout.
But what’s fantastic is that with that came an enormous amount of relief and I think that the intimacy that you create together in a very safe place – and this is where I don’t think I could have done it with a man – I actually think the only way I could do this was with her [Reijn] because the two of us would sit and talk and I was like, really, really talking about things.
And we talked about so many things and still do, that is so secretive and vulnerable – but it’s safe. And with that comes growth. And so, hopefully, this film releases something in some people at some time or at least starts questions because there aren’t really answers, as we all know, there’s really only questions, and answers change, and you land on something and go, ‘Oh now I understand’ – and then you don’t.
So it’s always moving, but I love the movement of it. But there was nothing that was too hard. There was just days when it was too much, if that makes sense.
Any memorable moments?
KIDMAN: My favourite day was the rave because I got to go to a rave. [laughs] And it really was that. And we played loud music and I got to just go wild. And at that point in the film when we were doing it, it was just so needed, that feeling of full release.
But also, hopefully there’s a depth to it, but it’s funny and entertaining. It’s meant to be entertaining. It’s not meant to be punishing or even though some people have said to me, who I won’t name, have said it’s the most disturbing film they’ve ever seen [laughs]. Which I don’t understand! I don’t find it disturbing at all!
