Nicole Kidman has revealed what has motivated her to work with several female directors, including Sofia Coppola, Halina Reijn and Lulu Wang, on her most recent projects.
Nicole Kidman wants to work with female directors because she feels “in tune with women’s stories” as a “mother, daughter, wife, producer and actress”.
The 57-year-old Hollywood star made a pledge a few years ago to work with as many women as she could and she has kept to her promise making ‘The Beguiled’ with Sofia Coppola, ‘Babygirl’ with Dutch filmmaker Halina Reijn, ‘Expats’ with Lulu Wang and Susanne Bier on ‘The Undoing’.
Nicole – who will also be appearing in Liz Sarnoff’s ‘Scarpetta’, based on Patricia Cornwell’s ‘Kay Scarpetta’ novels, for Amazon Prime – wants to continue to seek out talented women to work with to share their collective experience.
In an interview with Italian publication IO Donna, she said: “I feel in tune with women’s stories, obviously. I am a woman, and I can speak as a mother, daughter, wife, producer, actress; in short, I can move in different spaces and use a well of emotions and experiences to express my voice.
“I choose roles and people to collaborate with very carefully. This is why I wanted to work with Susanne Bier or Lulu Wang, I find their points of view remarkable. I just shot a film, ‘Holland’ , with a young director, Mimi Cave, who has her own unique voice, and now, on the ‘Scarpetta’ series, I am working again with a magnificent Franco-Swedish woman, Charlotte Brandstrom.”
But Nicole will limit herself to only telling female-led stories.
The Best Actress Oscar winner will not politicise her decisions and will always be led on whether the story affects her on an emotional level.
But Kidman has vowed to continue her habit of being courageous about the film and TV work she accepts.
She said: “It’s not an ideological choice, I go where my heart takes me, I don’t politicise my decisions. I follow my instinct, I act if I feel in tune with the stories to tell, if they interest me on a personal level.
“So it is not necessarily a question of male or female choices: I have always been attracted to people with different and complex perspectives, from worlds, countries and cultures of all kinds.
“I want to remain courageous, not close myself, off but participate. I try. I never back down.”
‘I feel in tune with women’s stories…’ Nicole Kidman explains motivation for working with female directors
