Spotlighting Three of Nicole Kidman’s Extraordinary Performances

An Academy Award®-winning actress, Nicole Kidman has shown a talent in everything from pop musicals to literary adaptations, historical epics to intimate dramas, bringing to each a deep curiosity and insightful daringness. Even more, she remains dedicated to telling stories that matter and promoting artists she admires.

So, we’re showcasing three of her memorable turns.

The Beguiled

In Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, Kidman plays Miss Martha Farnsworth, the founder of an all-girls Southern academy, who attempts to protect her young wards during the Civil War. When a wounded Union soldier (Colin Farrell) is brought into her home, however, Farnsworth’s magisterial control over her school is seriously threatened. As everyone, especially her headteacher (Kirsten Dunst), is beguiled by the handsome corporal, Kidman is left to her own devices to restore order.

Kidman jumped at the chance of working with Coppola and supporting women artists. “It isn't right that so few women directors are working,” Kidman told the Sydney Morning Herald. “I want to support them all any way I can." Coppola was thrilled to have Kidman on board. “She’s such an experienced, talented actress,” Coppola told The Playlist. “It was like watching a virtuoso or an incredible athlete.” Screen Daily writes that Kidman is “formidable…as a woman who perhaps grasps that her world of genteel privilege is fading away."

Watch The Beguiled on Apple TV or Amazon now!

Boy Erased

In Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased, Kidman plays Nancy Eamons, a mother who goes along with her Baptist minister husband (Russell Crowe) to have her teenage son (Lucas Hedges) committed to a conversion therapy program. Faced with the painful reality of what this experience is doing to her son, Eamons must make tough decisions in her family.

Based on Garrard Conley’s memoir, the film explores the complex, sometimes impossible conflict between faith and identity. Kidman told Gold Derby that her character is “a mother who’s making amends to her child for a huge thing that she knows she did that was wrong.” The Film Experience writes that in an “absolutely devastating performance… Kidman brings a palpable sense of love.” She received a Critics Choice nomination for her work.

Watch Boy Erased on Apple TV or Amazon now!

The Northman

In Robert Eggers’ epic The Northman, Nicole Kidman plays Queen Gudrún, the mother of Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård), the ferocious hero who dedicates his life to avenging the death of his father (Ethan Hawke). Kidman was enthusiastic about working with Eggers, telling Good Morning America, “He's committed to cinema, to putting films on the big screen that are magnificent.” As a Queen whose secrets will determine the fate of everyone around her, “Kidman gets an absolute showstopper of a scene,” writes The Guardian. Indeed her performance, as the Los Angeles Times writes, “turns out to be one of the movie’s most deliciously barbed surprises.”

Watch The Northman on Apple TV or Amazon now!