27
Nicole Kidman said she felt “exposed and vulnerable” as erotic thriller “Babygirl” premiered at the Venice Film Festival Friday, with the veteran actor pushing herself far from her comfort zone.
Kidman plays Romy, a high-powered New York CEO who embarks on a torrid, sado-masochistic affair with a new company intern, played by Harris Dickinson, risking her marriage to her husband (Antonio Banderas) and family life.
An orgasm both opens and ends the film, with a roller-coaster of frenzied desire and psychological manipulation in between, leaving the viewer in a heightened state of anticipation during the no-holds-barred film.
“This definitely leaves me exposed and vulnerable and frightened and all of those things when it’s given to the world, but making it with these people here, it was delicate and intimate and very, very deep,” Kidman told a press conference ahead of the premiere.
“Right now we’re all a bit nervous.”
– ‘Fearless’ –
One of 21 films in the main competition for the Golden Lion prize, “Babygirl” is the third film for Dutch director Halina Reijn, who also wrote the script.
The study of one woman’s sexual desire, it also explores power relationships — and turns some of them on their head in surprising ways.
Early reviews were mostly positive, with Variety calling Kidman “fearless” in the film that captures “something genuine about women’s erotic experience in the age of control” and IndieWire calling the film a “sexy, darkly funny, and bold piece of work”.
The film manages to subvert the seemingly dated erotic genre, whose heyday in the 1980s and 90s produced films such as “Fatal Attraction”, “Basic Instinct” and “9 1/2 Weeks”.
“I’m very delighted to be able to make a film about female desire but it’s also a film about a woman in an existential crisis and it has many layers,” said Reijn.
That was the interest for Kidman, who in 1999 delved into the genre with her then-husband Tom Cruise in Stanley Kubrick’s final film, “Eyes Wide Shut,” similarly an in-depth look at sexuality and the human psyche.
“I want to examine human beings,” Kidman said Friday.
“I want to examine women onscreen, I want to examine what it means to be human and in all facets of that and the labyrinth of that,” she said.
Last year’s Golden Lion award went to a film unabashedly exploring themes of self-identity and sexuality — “Poor Things” from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos.
In that feminist reworking of “Frankenstein,” actress Emma Stone shattered the norms of Hollywood modesty in her portrayal of Bella, a sexually voracious reanimated corpse who lives unashamedly for pleasure.
– ‘Emotional Toll’ –
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Nicole Kidman shared her thoughts on filming the explicit scenes for her upcoming film. The actress explained that she and her co-star, Halina Dickinson, meticulously choreographed the sequences with the help of intimacy coordinators. These scenes were carefully rehearsed, with adjustments made as needed during filming.
Despite the careful planning, Kidman revealed that she and Dickinson became fully immersed in their roles once the cameras began rolling. “I never came out of it, really,” Kidman confessed. “It left me ragged.”
Kidman went on to describe the emotional toll the scenes took on her. “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,” she admitted. “Halina would hold me and I would hold her, because it was just very confronting to me.”
As the release of “Babygirl” approaches, Kidman acknowledged that she is finding the anticipation just as daunting as the production itself. “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,” she remarked.
Reflecting on the experience, Kidman added, “I felt very exposed as an actor, as a woman, as a human being. I had to go in and out like, I need to put my protection back on. What have I just done? Where did I go? What did I do?”
– Self-love –
Kidman — who wore a two-tone Schiaparelli gown on the red carpet ahead of the screening — said “Babygirl” also fit her agenda to promote female directors.
She said she wanted to “put my weight behind a lot of women now in terms of directors, to try to change the ratio”.
The gap between men and women directors in film festivals has narrowed in recent years amid more attention to gender parity, but women directors are still underrepresented.
This year, Reijn is one of seven women directors in the main competition of 21 films.
Having a woman at the helm of “Babygirl” was essential, said Kidman, 57.
“It’s told by a woman through her gaze… that’s to me what made it so unique because suddenly I was going to be in the hands of a woman with this material and it was very, very deep to be able to share those things and very freeing,” Kidman said.
She acknowledged that nudity — of which there is relatively little in the film — was not a primary concern.
“I will just completely abandon (myself) to the story, to the nature of the character I’m playing, so I don’t think about bodies per se, I just think about how do we tell the story,” Kidman said.
Ultimately, Reijn said the film is about the question: “Can I love myself in all my different layers?”
“And I hope it will function as a tribute to self-love and liberation.”
The film, which premiered at the Sala Grande Theatre in Venice last Thursday, received a seven-minute standing ovation, according to Deadline. Kidman’s performance was met with critical acclaim, sparking early speculation of an Oscar nomination.
“Babygirl” is set to be released in theatres on December 25.
Kidman plays Romy, a high-powered New York CEO who embarks on a torrid, sado-masochistic affair with a new company intern, played by Harris Dickinson, risking her marriage to her husband (Antonio Banderas) and family life.
An orgasm both opens and ends the film, with a roller-coaster of frenzied desire and psychological manipulation in between, leaving the viewer in a heightened state of anticipation during the no-holds-barred film.
“This definitely leaves me exposed and vulnerable and frightened and all of those things when it’s given to the world, but making it with these people here, it was delicate and intimate and very, very deep,” Kidman told a press conference ahead of the premiere.
“Right now we’re all a bit nervous.”
– ‘Fearless’ –
One of 21 films in the main competition for the Golden Lion prize, “Babygirl” is the third film for Dutch director Halina Reijn, who also wrote the script.
The study of one woman’s sexual desire, it also explores power relationships — and turns some of them on their head in surprising ways.
Early reviews were mostly positive, with Variety calling Kidman “fearless” in the film that captures “something genuine about women’s erotic experience in the age of control” and IndieWire calling the film a “sexy, darkly funny, and bold piece of work”.
The film manages to subvert the seemingly dated erotic genre, whose heyday in the 1980s and 90s produced films such as “Fatal Attraction”, “Basic Instinct” and “9 1/2 Weeks”.
“I’m very delighted to be able to make a film about female desire but it’s also a film about a woman in an existential crisis and it has many layers,” said Reijn.
That was the interest for Kidman, who in 1999 delved into the genre with her then-husband Tom Cruise in Stanley Kubrick’s final film, “Eyes Wide Shut,” similarly an in-depth look at sexuality and the human psyche.
“I want to examine human beings,” Kidman said Friday.
“I want to examine women onscreen, I want to examine what it means to be human and in all facets of that and the labyrinth of that,” she said.
Last year’s Golden Lion award went to a film unabashedly exploring themes of self-identity and sexuality — “Poor Things” from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos.
In that feminist reworking of “Frankenstein,” actress Emma Stone shattered the norms of Hollywood modesty in her portrayal of Bella, a sexually voracious reanimated corpse who lives unashamedly for pleasure.
– ‘Emotional Toll’ –
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Nicole Kidman shared her thoughts on filming the explicit scenes for her upcoming film. The actress explained that she and her co-star, Halina Dickinson, meticulously choreographed the sequences with the help of intimacy coordinators. These scenes were carefully rehearsed, with adjustments made as needed during filming.
Despite the careful planning, Kidman revealed that she and Dickinson became fully immersed in their roles once the cameras began rolling. “I never came out of it, really,” Kidman confessed. “It left me ragged.”
Kidman went on to describe the emotional toll the scenes took on her. “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,” she admitted. “Halina would hold me and I would hold her, because it was just very confronting to me.”
As the release of “Babygirl” approaches, Kidman acknowledged that she is finding the anticipation just as daunting as the production itself. “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,” she remarked.
Reflecting on the experience, Kidman added, “I felt very exposed as an actor, as a woman, as a human being. I had to go in and out like, I need to put my protection back on. What have I just done? Where did I go? What did I do?”
– Self-love –
Kidman — who wore a two-tone Schiaparelli gown on the red carpet ahead of the screening — said “Babygirl” also fit her agenda to promote female directors.
She said she wanted to “put my weight behind a lot of women now in terms of directors, to try to change the ratio”.
The gap between men and women directors in film festivals has narrowed in recent years amid more attention to gender parity, but women directors are still underrepresented.
This year, Reijn is one of seven women directors in the main competition of 21 films.
Having a woman at the helm of “Babygirl” was essential, said Kidman, 57.
“It’s told by a woman through her gaze… that’s to me what made it so unique because suddenly I was going to be in the hands of a woman with this material and it was very, very deep to be able to share those things and very freeing,” Kidman said.
She acknowledged that nudity — of which there is relatively little in the film — was not a primary concern.
“I will just completely abandon (myself) to the story, to the nature of the character I’m playing, so I don’t think about bodies per se, I just think about how do we tell the story,” Kidman said.
Ultimately, Reijn said the film is about the question: “Can I love myself in all my different layers?”
“And I hope it will function as a tribute to self-love and liberation.”
The film, which premiered at the Sala Grande Theatre in Venice last Thursday, received a seven-minute standing ovation, according to Deadline. Kidman’s performance was met with critical acclaim, sparking early speculation of an Oscar nomination.
“Babygirl” is set to be released in theatres on December 25.
