Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman, who stars in two big films this winter, Boy Erased and Destroyer, presents an essay (as told to Holly Millea) for The Cut in which she talks about what it means to have power — and to feel powerless. In the piece, Kidman discusses her marriage to Tom Cruise, saying that being married to a powerful man shielded her from many forms of sexual harassment in Hollywood.
Kidman says:
I got married very young, but it definitely wasn’t power for me — it was protection. I married for love, but being married to an extremely powerful man kept me from being sexually harassed. I would work, but I was still very much cocooned. So when I came out of it at 32, 33, it’s almost like I had to grow up.
She does go on to say she experienced sexual harassment in other forms throughout her life in various ways.
Of course I’ve had #MeToo moments — since I was little! But do I want to expose them in an article? No. Do they come out in my work? Absolutely. I’m open and raw.
Kidman married country musician Keith Urban in 2006. She says in the essay she is still working on finding and expressing her power within the entertainment world.
She elaborates:
My power in the industry is being able to go, “Can we get this made?” And people saying, “We’ll give you some money.” And then I get to make the choices: “I want this person cast, I want this director.” It’s astounding when people listen. But I still don’t have a lot of power. Destroyer was hard to get made. You have a female director, Karyn Kusama. You have me in a lead role as an avenging undercover cop who looks the way I look in that movie — not glamorous. It’s about a very complicated, angry woman. People are not going, “We can’t wait to make this film!”
I have so much respect for Nicole Kidman
— Deb Meissner ♥☮♥ (@dgm2) October 16, 2018
I can relate Nikki, I was 18 and carrying my first child, now at 66, have the love of my life❤️
— Johanna Carpenter (@Johanna05796657) October 16, 2018
It seems Kidman is living her best life now.
Boy Erased opens November 2, and Destroyer premieres on Christmas Day.
H/T: The Cut, Indie Wire
