Nicole Kidman says in a new interview with L'Officiel that she's not just looking for a paycheck when she decides to star in a major Hollywood film. Since the Oscar winner is widely praised for her work in indie films and dramas, she's often questioned when she signs up for big-budget films like the “Aquaman” franchise or 1995's “Batman Forever.”
Kidman recalled the confusion over her casting as Dr. Chase Meridian in Batman Forever, saying, “Everyone was like, ‘Why are you doing this?’ And I was like, ‘Because I’m going to kiss Batman!’ But what people don’t understand is that it’s not about the check. A lot of the big movies I do are different in the hopes that they’ll be.”
Kidman faced the same questions when she agreed to play Queen Atlanna in Aquaman, a role she reprised in the sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. She certainly wasn’t passionate about the Aquaman stories, but she was passionate about director James Wan and his horror films. She took the role. In fact, Kidman was so happy when she was asked to play the role that she initially thought it would be a horror movie.
“I really wanted to work with him on horror films,” Kidman said.
In recent years, Kidman's work in limited series has become as well known as her film performances. Her Emmy-winning work on HBO's “Big Little Lies” was just the beginning of a TV series that includes “The Undoing,” “Expats,” “Nine Perfect Strangers” and the upcoming Netflix limited series “The Perfect Couple.”
“I fell in love with feature films because I love building character and I love that they are limited,” Kidman told L’Officiel. “You don’t dedicate a huge amount of time. It still has a cinematic feel. It’s more like a slow burn than a film, where you only have two hours to tell your story and build character.”
The Perfect Couple premieres on Netflix September 5.
