2024-09-04 07:23:31
Actress Nicole Kidman completed two projects shortly after each other. She was the star of the world premiere of Netflix’s new detective mini-series Wedding of the Year in London this Monday, in which a dead body is found just before the wedding. The actress flew to the English capital from the Venice festival, where shortly before she premiered the new full-length erotic drama Babygirl.
In the film Babygirl, which does not yet have a Czech distributor, Nicole Kidman portrayed the successful director of a New York company and the happily married mother of two daughters Roma. She puts her career and family at risk when she seduces an opportunistic young intern. “It was a gentle, intimate and really deep experience,” the actress evaluates the filming.
The 57-year-old Australian has several daring films to her credit, including director Stanley Kubrick’s erotic drama Eyes Wide Shut, in which she acted with Tom Cruise and which premiered at the Venice Film Festival 25 years ago. Still, the actress seemed vulnerable while filming the delicate scenes.
“And now I definitely feel exposed and vulnerable and a little bit scared that the whole world is going to see it,” she admitted at the festival, where she was joined by the film’s director Halina Reijn, Antonio Banderas, who plays her husband, and Harris Dickinson, who played the intern. “We’re all a little nervous. I hope my hands aren’t shaking,” adds Nicole Kidman.
The film Babygirl wants to offer a female perspective on the traditionally male-filmed erotic thriller genre. The director says that she focused on the darkest fantasies that the heroine feels but is unable to fulfill within an otherwise successful marriage. “I’m glad that I could make a film about women’s desire. But the film is multi-layered and at the same time tells about the existential crisis of a woman,” says the Dutch author, who drew attention to herself the year before with the comedy horror film Guess Who’s the Murderer.
The film begins with a close-up of Nicole Kidman in a situation where she only seems to reach orgasm during sex with her husband. It is in response to this that he begins to seek satisfaction elsewhere.
Nicole Kidman a Harris Dickinson ve filmu Babygirl. | Foto: Niko Tavernise
One of the themes of the film is the differences in how sex is perceived by the younger and older generations, especially in politically correct New York.
During filming, the crew used, among other things, so-called intimacy coordinators. This is a relatively new profession ensuring the personal comfort of actors and actresses when staging erotic scenes. “I was sure that Halina Reijn would not abuse my participation in any way. They looked after us all wonderfully. It seemed very authentic, but at the same time safe,” the actress evaluates for the Guardian newspaper.
Nicole Kidman won an Oscar in 2002 for her performance in the film The Clock. Since then she has worked with many leading directors. Only recently, according to her words, did she start focusing on acting in projects by leading female directors as well. “I’m trying to support female directors more now to help balance the disparity a bit,” she notes.
The director, specifically the Danish native Susanne Bier, is also signed to Nicole Kidman’s second current project, a Netflix miniseries called Wedding of the Year.
Because of her, the Australian flew from Venice to London, where the world premiere took place on Monday evening. Netflix will publish the news this Thursday. It contains six episodes, based on the 2018 novel by Elin Hilderbrand.
The miniseries tells the story of a zookeeper who is to marry into a wealthy family living on Nantucket, an island off the Atlantic coast of the USA. Nicole Kidman played her future mother-in-law, who makes a living by writing detective novels and does not approve of the marriage.
It is she who organizes a lavish wedding at her residence during the Independence Day celebrations. But on the morning of the day when the marriage is to take place, a dead body washes ashore, an investigation begins and all the wedding guests are suspects.
“I grew up reading detective stories, and I haven’t seen one like this in quite a while, so I really enjoyed playing in it,” says Nicole Kidman, who also produced the miniseries. “It’s a completely different character than the one I play in Babygirl, much stronger and more powerful,” he compares.
Her husband and head of the family was played by Liev Schreiber. He took a while to be persuaded to accept the role. “I talked about it with director Susanne Bier and Nicole Kidman for about two weeks. And then I realized how deliciously dark and wonderful it would be, so I gave it the nod,” adds the actor.
Video: Trailer from the miniseries Wedding of the Year
The Wedding of the Year miniseries will be on Netflix starting this Thursday. | Video: Netflix