Nicole Kidman Says Being Seen As A ‘Sexual Being’ In New Film Felt ‘Beautiful’

Nicole Kidman has shared that being seen as a sexual being in the upcoming erotic thriller “Baby Girl” made her feel “beautiful.”

The film project, which debuts later this month, has already been in the news for its multiple steamy sex scenes.

According to Nicole Kidman, she found the role “so raw and dangerous,” and she knew from the beginning that it was truly unique for her.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Lidman opened up about her role in “Baby Girl,” an erotic thriller directed by Halina Reijn.

She told the outlet that the role deeply resonated with her from the onset as she saw it as a rare opportunity to portray a sexual woman beyond traditional, age-related stereotypes.

“A lot of times, women are discarded at a certain period of their career as a sexual being. So it was really beautiful to be seen in this way,” Kidman shared.

She added, “From the minute I read it, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is a voice I haven’t seen, this is a place that I haven’t been, I don’t think audiences have been.'”

The actress shared that she found the film very liberating, though some acquaintances who previewed the project felt differently.

Kidman added, “I think it’s very releasing, this film. I hope it is. I’ve had some people say it’s the most disturbing film they’ve ever seen, which I’m like, “Oh no, I’m so sorry.”

According to the actress, she was deeply engrossed in the script when she first received it because of how it differed from other scripts she had encountered in her career.

“[When] I read it, I was like, ‘I’ve not read a film like this,” said Kidman, who portrays a powerful CEO, wife, and mother whose intense attraction to a bold young male intern risks unraveling her marriage and career.

She went on to express her appreciation for the role’s bold hypersexuality but admitted she was astonished that the showrunners approved it for production.

Kidman added, “I thought it was incredibly sexy. Really just so raw and dangerous, and I couldn’t believe they were giving us the money to make it.”

When asked about the “most dangerous part” of the role, Kidman highlighted its “sexuality” and also mentioned that it was clearly not written for someone in their 20s or even 30s.

Despite enjoying the role and all it had to offer, the actress was left feeling “ragged at the end of it all.

“At some point, I was like, I don’t want to be touched. I don’t want to do this anymore, but at the same time I was compelled to do it,” the actress told Vanity Fair in August. “Halina would hold me, and I would hold her, because it was just very confronting to me.”

At the time, Kidman also mentioned that she still relies on the female director for emotional support, as she is yet to fully come to terms with the reality of her intimate scenes being showcased to the public.

She added, “This is something you do and hide in your home videos. It is not a thing that normally is going to be seen by the world. I felt very exposed as an actor, as a woman, as a human being.”

In her interview with Vanity Fair, Kidman shared her vision for how audiences should interpret “Baby Girl,” emphasizing that it should be seen as a “liberating story” rather than just another erotic thriller.

“This is one woman’s story, and this is, I hope, a very liberating story,” the five-time Oscar nominee revealed. “It’s told by a woman through her gaze … and that’s what, to me, made it so unique, was that suddenly I was gonna be in the hands of a woman with this material.”

“Baby Girl” is set for a cinematic release later this month but has already been screened at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on August 30, 2024.

Kidman, in a chat with GQ Magazine, revealed that she sometimes wakes up crying, partly because of the loss of her parents and also due to thoughts about mortality.

“Mortality. Connection. Life coming and hitting you,” she told the news outlet. “And loss of parents and raising children and marriage and all of the things that go into making you a fully sentient human. I’m in all of those places. So life is, whew. It’s definitely a journey.”

Kidman added that this “hits you as you get older” and “it’s a wake up at 3 am crying and gasping kind of thing. If you’re in it and not numbing yourself to it. And I’m in it. Fully in it.”

The actress told the news outlet that in spite of the setbacks, she pushes through the pain for her children’s sake.

“It goes on,” she shared. “That natural line of how it’s meant to go. The parents, then you, then the children. That’s the natural course. So if that happens, that’s a blessing.”