WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.839 Imagine being so pathologically shy that you 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:06.120 physically cannot walk into a crowded restaurant 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:08.619 alone. Like, it's just completely paralyzing. 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:10.759 Exactly. You literally develop a stutter when 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:13.580 you try to speak to strangers. And the very idea 00:00:13.580 --> 00:00:16.859 of walking into a party by yourself just, well, 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:18.920 it sends you into a total spiral of anxiety. 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:21.260 It sounds like a nightmare, honestly. It is. 00:00:21.620 --> 00:00:24.219 Now imagine that your coping mechanism for this 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:27.320 lifelong social anxiety is to become one of the 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:30.100 highest paid most recognizable movie stars on 00:00:30.100 --> 00:00:31.760 the face of the earth. Well, it's just wild when 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:34.759 you frame it like that. Right. So today we are 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:36.960 taking a deep dive into our stack of sources 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:40.679 to unpack this ultimate Hollywood paradox. We're 00:00:40.679 --> 00:00:43.200 looking at the architectural genius of Nicole 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:46.119 Kidman. It really is a staggering contradiction. 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:48.740 And to grasp her impact, we need to establish 00:00:48.740 --> 00:00:50.600 right up front that this is not going to be, 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:53.000 you know, just a standard timeline of a Wikipedia 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.520 page. No, definitely not. We are looking at the 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:58.820 mechanics of a true industry icon, someone who 00:00:58.820 --> 00:01:01.840 figured out how to take the immense glaring spotlight 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:04.700 of global fame and use it as a tool to rewrite 00:01:04.700 --> 00:01:07.180 Hollywood's rules from the inside out. OK, let's 00:01:07.180 --> 00:01:09.939 unpack this, because to understand the powerhouse, 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:13.959 she becomes, you know, the producer, the shot 00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:17.120 caller. We absolutely have to start with this 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:19.879 bizarre paradox of her early life. Yeah, we really 00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:22.260 do. And right off the bat, our sources throw 00:01:22.260 --> 00:01:25.230 a curveball. the quintessential Australian actress 00:01:25.230 --> 00:01:27.430 wasn't actually born in Australia. That's right. 00:01:27.650 --> 00:01:31.569 She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1967. Wait, 00:01:31.590 --> 00:01:34.870 really? Hawaii? Yeah. Her parents were Australian, 00:01:34.930 --> 00:01:37.109 but they were in the U .S. on student visas at 00:01:37.109 --> 00:01:39.670 the time. Her father was a biochemist and clinical 00:01:39.670 --> 00:01:42.590 psychologist, and her mother was a nursing instructor. 00:01:42.750 --> 00:01:45.290 So she has dual citizenship then? Exactly. Because 00:01:45.290 --> 00:01:48.090 of that timing, she holds both U .S. and Australian 00:01:48.090 --> 00:01:50.799 citizenship. There's actually this wonderfully 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:53.159 specific detail in the biographical records about 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:55.859 her time in Hawaii. Because she was born in Honolulu, 00:01:56.299 --> 00:01:58.900 she was given the Hawaiian name Hukulani. Which 00:01:58.900 --> 00:02:01.819 translates to heavenly star, right? Yes. But 00:02:01.819 --> 00:02:04.540 the inspiration wasn't like some ancient mythology. 00:02:04.859 --> 00:02:07.200 It was actually inspired by a baby elephant that 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:09.860 had just been born at the Honolulu Zoo. Oh my 00:02:09.860 --> 00:02:11.919 gosh, I love that. That is such a great piece 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:15.409 of trivia. It totally is. But, you know, it contrasts 00:02:15.409 --> 00:02:18.509 so sharply with the intensely serious environment 00:02:18.509 --> 00:02:21.250 she was actually raised in. Her parents were 00:02:21.250 --> 00:02:23.430 highly political. Right. Especially when they 00:02:23.430 --> 00:02:25.689 live in Washington, D .C. Exactly. This was during 00:02:25.689 --> 00:02:27.949 the height of the Vietnam War and they were actively 00:02:27.949 --> 00:02:31.509 involved in anti -war protests. Her mother was 00:02:31.509 --> 00:02:33.689 even a member of the women's electoral lobby. 00:02:33.830 --> 00:02:35.569 So they were really in the thick of it. They 00:02:35.569 --> 00:02:37.909 were. And they moved back to Australia when Kidman 00:02:37.909 --> 00:02:40.879 was three. But that environment of questioning 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:43.580 authority clearly soaked in. Yeah, that makes 00:02:43.580 --> 00:02:45.439 sense. Yet the most striking thing about her 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:47.860 childhood isn't the politics at all. It's her 00:02:47.860 --> 00:02:51.319 personality. Yes, the shyness. The sources emphasize 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:53.919 that it wasn't just typical childhood timidity. 00:02:54.620 --> 00:02:57.759 It was intense. Almost crippling. Yeah. We mentioned 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:00.759 the stutter, the fear of restaurants. She has 00:03:00.759 --> 00:03:03.620 admitted that even today, as this established 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:07.240 global icon, she still regresses into that profound 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:09.879 shyness. What's fascinating here is how that 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:12.539 extreme shyness essentially incubated one of 00:03:12.539 --> 00:03:15.280 the world's most versatile, fearless performers. 00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:17.819 Well, she was enrolled in ballet at three, but 00:03:17.819 --> 00:03:20.219 she really found her place in the theater, and 00:03:20.219 --> 00:03:23.479 part of that discovery was driven by just pure 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:25.900 geographic practicality. Right, because of the 00:03:25.900 --> 00:03:28.800 Australian sun. Yeah. She had this very fair 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:31.780 skin and naturally red hair, and the harsh sun 00:03:31.780 --> 00:03:35.469 was just... brutal on her. So she literally had 00:03:35.469 --> 00:03:38.969 to retreat indoors seeking refuge in the dark, 00:03:39.330 --> 00:03:41.750 cool halls of the Phillips Street Theater in 00:03:41.750 --> 00:03:45.110 Sydney. It's like acting became this emotional 00:03:45.110 --> 00:03:47.590 invisibility cloak for her. Oh, that's a great 00:03:47.590 --> 00:03:49.430 way to put it. Think about the psychological 00:03:49.430 --> 00:03:52.080 mechanism there. If you are terrified of being 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.520 perceived, of being judged as yourself, you put 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:56.740 on a mask. You take on a script. Exactly. To 00:03:56.740 --> 00:03:59.719 hide from the world. She chose the one profession 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:02.259 where she is stared at by millions of people, 00:04:02.300 --> 00:04:03.879 but they aren't looking at her. They're looking 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:06.419 at the character. It is the ultimate psychological 00:04:06.419 --> 00:04:08.639 workaround. She didn't become an actor to be 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:11.580 seen. She became an actor to disappear. Wow. 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:15.099 She took up drama and mime because it was a sanctuary 00:04:15.099 --> 00:04:17.839 It allowed her to step entirely out of her own 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:20.100 nervous system and inhabit someone else's reality 00:04:20.410 --> 00:04:22.730 And when you learn to observe human behavior 00:04:22.730 --> 00:04:26.290 that closely, you develop a massive reserve of 00:04:26.290 --> 00:04:28.730 empathy. Right. You are constantly studying how 00:04:28.730 --> 00:04:30.990 other people walk and talk just so you can hide 00:04:30.990 --> 00:04:33.670 inside them. And that intense empathy didn't 00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:36.410 just make her a capable chameleon on stage. It 00:04:36.410 --> 00:04:39.569 forged this fierce, almost maternal dedication 00:04:39.569 --> 00:04:42.189 to the people around her. Which explains a massive 00:04:42.189 --> 00:04:44.449 turning point in her life that happens entirely 00:04:44.449 --> 00:04:47.550 off screen. Yeah. We are in 1984 now. Kidman 00:04:47.550 --> 00:04:49.910 is a teenager. She's already dropped out of high 00:04:49.910 --> 00:04:52.009 school. school to pursue acting, and her career 00:04:52.009 --> 00:04:54.389 in Australia is actually taking off. She's doing 00:04:54.389 --> 00:04:57.430 localized hits like Bush Christmas and BMX Bandits. 00:04:57.589 --> 00:05:00.370 She is right on the verge of breaking out. But 00:05:00.370 --> 00:05:02.550 then her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer. 00:05:02.709 --> 00:05:04.930 Right. And she just hits the brakes. She halts 00:05:04.930 --> 00:05:07.269 her entire booming career. And I think this is 00:05:07.269 --> 00:05:09.230 where you see the core of who she is. She doesn't 00:05:09.230 --> 00:05:11.170 just sit by the bedside. No, she takes action. 00:05:11.329 --> 00:05:14.399 She actively studies massage therapy. She gets 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:15.980 trained so she can personally help her mother 00:05:15.980 --> 00:05:18.180 with physical therapy during her battle with 00:05:18.180 --> 00:05:20.759 the disease. It's incredible. Imagine having 00:05:20.759 --> 00:05:23.600 all that teenage momentum, the spotlight finally 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.680 finding you, and you just drop it to do grueling 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:29.319 physical caretaking. It completely dismantles 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:31.699 the stereotype of the narcissistic child actor. 00:05:32.019 --> 00:05:34.759 Family came first, absolutely and unequivocally. 00:05:34.889 --> 00:05:38.170 And that level of raw grit, that ability to handle 00:05:38.170 --> 00:05:41.949 intense, uncomfortable reality, translated directly 00:05:41.949 --> 00:05:43.870 into her work once she returned to the screen. 00:05:44.110 --> 00:05:46.029 Because her international breakthrough isn't 00:05:46.029 --> 00:05:48.490 some fluffy rom -com. Not at all. It comes in 00:05:48.490 --> 00:05:51.269 1989 with the psychological thriller Dead Calm. 00:05:51.629 --> 00:05:54.350 Dead Calm is such a master class intention. She 00:05:54.350 --> 00:05:56.850 plays the wife of a naval officer and they are 00:05:56.850 --> 00:05:59.310 trapped on a yacht being menaced by a psychotic 00:05:59.310 --> 00:06:01.569 castaway played by Billy Zane. And she brings 00:06:01.569 --> 00:06:05.379 a ferocious survivalist energy to it. The critic 00:06:05.379 --> 00:06:07.899 Roger Eber specifically pointed out that Kidman 00:06:07.899 --> 00:06:10.959 and Billy Zane generated real palpable hatred 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:13.759 in their scenes. Palpable hatred? That is high 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:15.819 praise for a thriller. It wasn't just good acting, 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:18.699 it was visceral. And that specific tenacious 00:06:18.699 --> 00:06:21.259 performance is what acts as a flare gun to the 00:06:21.259 --> 00:06:23.319 international film industry. Which leads her 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:25.379 directly to a casting call for Days of Thunder 00:06:25.379 --> 00:06:29.689 in 1990. Yes, where she stars alongside Tom Cruise. 00:06:30.170 --> 00:06:32.389 And this is the moment her life goes into the 00:06:32.389 --> 00:06:35.069 absolute stratosphere. She marries Cruise that 00:06:35.069 --> 00:06:37.750 same year. They adopt two children. And literally 00:06:37.750 --> 00:06:40.490 overnight, she becomes half of the most famous, 00:06:40.709 --> 00:06:42.990 heavily paparazzi -stocked couple on the planet. 00:06:43.310 --> 00:06:45.550 Navigating that level of nuclear -grade fame 00:06:45.550 --> 00:06:48.949 is incredibly complex for anyone. But remember, 00:06:49.110 --> 00:06:50.930 she was only 23 years old when they married. 00:06:51.329 --> 00:06:54.610 And still, at her core, that pathologically shy 00:06:54.610 --> 00:06:57.949 kid from Sydney. Exactly. So what does this all 00:06:57.949 --> 00:07:00.730 mean? She gets famous alongside Cruz, but does 00:07:00.730 --> 00:07:03.730 the industry just view her as the movie star's 00:07:03.730 --> 00:07:05.509 wife at this point? Is she just a plus one to 00:07:05.509 --> 00:07:07.970 the studios? For a significant period, yeah, 00:07:07.970 --> 00:07:09.889 that was the dominant narrative in the tablade 00:07:09.889 --> 00:07:12.750 press. Now she was doing fantastic work, like 00:07:12.750 --> 00:07:15.149 To Die For, which won her a Golden Globe. Right. 00:07:15.149 --> 00:07:16.949 She was definitely proving her acting chops. 00:07:17.149 --> 00:07:20.069 But the public narrative was always heavily overshadowed 00:07:20.069 --> 00:07:22.689 by her marriage. The true turning point for her 00:07:22.540 --> 00:07:24.980 artistic legacy, though, comes from a place of 00:07:24.980 --> 00:07:27.160 immense personal devastation. The divorce in 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:31.000 2001. Yes. It was a brutal, highly publicized 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:33.699 split. The sources describe it as a major shock 00:07:33.699 --> 00:07:36.600 to her. And the layers of invasion of privacy 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:39.519 were just intense. Later documentaries, like 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:42.040 Going Clear, revered claims from a Scientology 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:44.660 auditor that she had even been wiretapped on 00:07:44.660 --> 00:07:46.819 Cruz's suggestion during their marriage. Just 00:07:46.819 --> 00:07:49.160 imagine the paranoia, the absolute destruction 00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:51.740 of your private sanctuary. It sounds agonizing. 00:07:51.870 --> 00:07:54.329 Most actors in that scenario would use a public 00:07:54.329 --> 00:07:58.050 divorce as a cue to retreat. You hide on a private 00:07:58.050 --> 00:08:00.490 island. You do a safe romantic comedy a year 00:08:00.490 --> 00:08:02.990 later to rebuild your brand. But Kidman does 00:08:02.990 --> 00:08:05.829 the exact opposite. She later noted, quote, out 00:08:05.829 --> 00:08:08.610 of my divorce came work that was applauded. She 00:08:08.610 --> 00:08:11.389 weaponized the scrutiny. Exactly. She channeled 00:08:11.389 --> 00:08:13.569 all that vulnerability and pain directly into 00:08:13.569 --> 00:08:16.050 her craft. Which is the perfect bridge to the 00:08:16.050 --> 00:08:19.360 hours in 2002. She plays the brilliant, deeply 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:22.439 troubled author, Virginia Woolf. And she is completely 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:25.040 unrecognizable. She wore a prosthetic nose, yes, 00:08:25.060 --> 00:08:27.379 but she also changed the entire timbre of her 00:08:27.379 --> 00:08:30.019 voice. She changed how she held tension in her 00:08:30.019 --> 00:08:32.519 shoulders. She essentially wrote left -handed 00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:35.360 to fully inhabit Woolf. The New York Times called 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.480 it a performance of astounding bravery. And it 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:41.340 won her the Academy Award for Best Actress, the 00:08:41.340 --> 00:08:43.720 very first Australian to ever win that specific 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:46.379 award. She totally disappeared. The emotional 00:08:46.379 --> 00:08:49.480 invisibility cloak was operating at maximum capacity. 00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:51.799 Yeah. And this brings up a concept from scholar 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:54.519 Mary Luckhurst, who is cited in our sources. 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:58.100 Luckhurst analyzes Kidman's acting style and 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:00.799 describes it as a high risk mutability. High 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:03.139 risk mutability. It's a perfect phrase. It really 00:09:03.139 --> 00:09:05.799 is. Luckhurst points out that Kidman refuses 00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:09.250 to stay in one lane. She constantly traverses 00:09:09.250 --> 00:09:11.629 between highly naturalist roles where she looks 00:09:11.629 --> 00:09:15.169 like herself and completely non -naturalist experimental 00:09:15.169 --> 00:09:18.710 roles. She actively tests her own limits until 00:09:18.710 --> 00:09:21.129 she metamorphoses into something completely other. 00:09:21.309 --> 00:09:23.470 Right. And here's where it gets really interesting. 00:09:23.590 --> 00:09:26.730 If you map out her career from the 2000s onward, 00:09:27.029 --> 00:09:29.190 it doesn't look like a standard Hollywood resume. 00:09:29.629 --> 00:09:32.429 It looked exactly like an expertly managed, high 00:09:32.429 --> 00:09:34.929 risk stock portfolio. Oh, I like that analogy. 00:09:35.149 --> 00:09:37.450 Break down the portfolio for us. OK, think about 00:09:37.450 --> 00:09:39.610 the momentum you have right after winning an 00:09:39.610 --> 00:09:42.570 Oscar. The traditional playbook says you cash 00:09:42.570 --> 00:09:45.990 it in for a massive, safe, prestige historical 00:09:45.990 --> 00:09:48.809 drama to cement your status. Right. You take 00:09:48.809 --> 00:09:51.820 the safe bet. But what does she do? She immediately 00:09:51.820 --> 00:09:55.019 signs on to do Dogville with director Lars Von 00:09:55.019 --> 00:09:57.299 Trier. Which is an incredibly hostile choice 00:09:57.299 --> 00:10:00.960 for a mainstream star. Lars Von Trier is notorious 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:04.179 for grueling, deeply anti -commercial, psychologically 00:10:04.179 --> 00:10:07.279 taxing films. Dogville is a three -hour movie 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:10.879 shot on a completely bare soundstage. The walls 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:13.279 of the houses are literally just chalk outlines 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:15.960 drawn on the floor. It's the riskiest indie stock 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:18.990 you could possibly buy. Exactly. But then, to 00:10:18.990 --> 00:10:21.049 balance that out, she turns around and does Moulin 00:10:21.049 --> 00:10:23.909 Rouge, a massive opulent musical directed by 00:10:23.909 --> 00:10:26.389 Baz Luhrmann. Where she is suspended from ceilings 00:10:26.389 --> 00:10:28.710 and diamonds and actually singing her own vocals. 00:10:28.970 --> 00:10:31.610 And she proved she had genuine vocal chops, which 00:10:31.610 --> 00:10:33.850 paid unexpected dividends. Yeah, her singing 00:10:33.850 --> 00:10:36.129 led to her recording a cover of Something Stupid 00:10:36.129 --> 00:10:38.710 with pop star Robbie Williams. And that track 00:10:38.710 --> 00:10:41.190 actually hit number one on the UK singles chart 00:10:41.190 --> 00:10:44.269 for three weeks. I mean, from a three -hour chalk 00:10:44.269 --> 00:10:49.600 outline depression fest to a literal Her commercial 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:52.440 footprint just becomes astronomical. Oh, we have 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:54.899 to talk about the Chanel No. 5 commercial. Yes, 00:10:55.320 --> 00:10:59.179 the ultimate blue chip investment. In 2004, she 00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:02.059 reteamed with Baz Luhrmann to shoot a three -minute 00:11:02.059 --> 00:11:04.840 short film serving as an advertisement for Chanel 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:07.440 No. 5. A three -minute commercial, and she was 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:10.440 reportedly paid $12 million for it. $12 million. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:12.860 That made her the Guinness World Record holder 00:11:12.860 --> 00:11:15.019 for the most money paid per minute to an actor. 00:11:15.230 --> 00:11:18.169 But notice how she uses that capital. Earning 00:11:18.169 --> 00:11:20.789 $12 million for three days of work effectively 00:11:20.789 --> 00:11:23.350 buys her the financial freedom to go make whatever 00:11:23.350 --> 00:11:25.649 bizarre art house film she wants for the next 00:11:25.649 --> 00:11:28.309 five years. It funds the indie projects. Exactly. 00:11:28.669 --> 00:11:30.950 She balances the Chanel money by starring in 00:11:30.950 --> 00:11:33.590 The Killing of a Sacred Deer, a truly unsettling 00:11:33.590 --> 00:11:36.230 psychological horror film, and then pivots again, 00:11:36.389 --> 00:11:39.370 playing Queen Atlanta in Aquaman. A CGI heavy 00:11:39.370 --> 00:11:42.389 superhero movie that grosses over $1 .1 billion 00:11:42.389 --> 00:11:45.480 worldwide. It's the perfect portfolio. She covers 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.139 every single sector of the market. And somehow, 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:51.399 amidst all of that calculation, she accidentally 00:11:51.399 --> 00:11:54.460 becomes the cultural savior of the physical movie 00:11:54.460 --> 00:11:57.820 theater. Oh, you mean the AMC theaters had? Yes. 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:00.419 We make movies better. It became an absolute 00:12:00.419 --> 00:12:03.000 phenomenon. That commercial started playing in 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:05.600 September 2021. And you have to remember, the 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:07.799 context theaters were absolutely desperate to 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:10.519 get audiences back into seats post -pandemic. 00:12:10.730 --> 00:12:13.590 The industry was terrified that streaming had 00:12:13.590 --> 00:12:16.669 permanently killed the box office. AMC CEO called 00:12:16.669 --> 00:12:19.610 her contribution revered. It sparked Internet 00:12:19.610 --> 00:12:22.610 memes, Saturday Night Live parodies. People were 00:12:22.610 --> 00:12:24.669 literally saluting the screen when it played. 00:12:25.190 --> 00:12:27.309 CNN noted it became a genuine cultural thing. 00:12:27.529 --> 00:12:29.990 It really did. But amassing this kind of commercial 00:12:29.990 --> 00:12:32.429 power is one thing. It's what she decided to 00:12:32.429 --> 00:12:35.100 do with that accumulated power that completely 00:12:35.100 --> 00:12:37.139 rewrote the Hollywood playbook. Because as she 00:12:37.139 --> 00:12:39.299 entered her 50s, she hit a demographic wall. 00:12:39.860 --> 00:12:42.559 Historically, this is the exact moment when Hollywood 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:46.059 tells women to quietly step aside, play the grandmother, 00:12:46.429 --> 00:12:49.009 or fade into obscurity. And she just refused 00:12:49.009 --> 00:12:51.450 to accept the terms of the deal. She realized 00:12:51.450 --> 00:12:53.190 the feature film industry wasn't going to give 00:12:53.190 --> 00:12:56.230 her the complex leading role she wanted. So she 00:12:56.230 --> 00:12:58.909 initiated a massive pivot to television. And 00:12:58.909 --> 00:13:01.730 crucially, she wasn't just acting for hire. She 00:13:01.730 --> 00:13:04.269 was producing. She was buying the underlying 00:13:04.269 --> 00:13:07.409 rights to books and hiring the writers herself. 00:13:07.429 --> 00:13:10.710 It started with Big Little Lies on HBO in 2017, 00:13:10.809 --> 00:13:14.049 which was a total juggernaut. She won Emmys for 00:13:14.049 --> 00:13:17.320 both acting and producing. Her portrayal of a 00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:19.720 wealthy lawyer concealing an abusive relationship 00:13:19.720 --> 00:13:22.100 behind a facade of perfection was just chilling. 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:24.860 It proved that audiences were starved for complex 00:13:24.860 --> 00:13:27.620 stories about adult women. And that single show 00:13:27.620 --> 00:13:29.919 opened the floodgates for an entire television 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:32.600 renaissance. She produced and starred in The 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:35.059 Undoing, which became HBO's most watched show 00:13:35.059 --> 00:13:37.779 of 2020. Then nine Perfect Strangers on Hulu. 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:41.320 Yeah. Expat's on Amazon. And recently, The Perfect 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:44.389 Couple. which was a massive global hit for Netflix, 00:13:44.929 --> 00:13:48.230 leading their charts for weeks. Do you have to 00:13:48.230 --> 00:13:49.590 call a time out here and push back a little? 00:13:49.769 --> 00:13:51.450 Sure, what's up? I am looking at the critical 00:13:51.450 --> 00:13:53.389 reception in our sources, and there is a very 00:13:53.389 --> 00:13:55.769 obvious trend. Critics argue she keeps playing 00:13:55.769 --> 00:13:57.850 the exact same character in all these shows. 00:13:58.409 --> 00:14:01.519 Uh, right. The undoing. nine perfect strangers, 00:14:01.980 --> 00:14:05.000 the perfect couple. It is always a fabulously 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:08.360 wealthy, incredibly icy, deeply miserable woman 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:11.320 staring out the window of a multi -million dollar 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:13.820 beach house holding a glass of wine. That is 00:14:13.820 --> 00:14:16.940 a very specific trope, yes. Doesn't that repetitiveness 00:14:16.940 --> 00:14:19.440 completely ruin the chameleon legacy we just 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:21.940 spent the last 10 minutes building? Is she just 00:14:21.940 --> 00:14:24.539 trading her artistic integrity for an easy streaming 00:14:24.539 --> 00:14:27.639 paycheck? On the surface, I understand that critique 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:30.519 completely. It looks like a plateau. But if we 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:32.559 connect this to the bigger picture, you realize 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:34.679 you're looking at the Trojan horse, not the soldiers 00:14:34.679 --> 00:14:37.320 inside. OK, explain that. She is purposefully 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:40.840 using these massive commercial, slightly soapy 00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:43.879 TV thrillers as leverage. By keeping herself 00:14:43.879 --> 00:14:46.639 at the absolute top of the A -list, by guaranteeing 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:48.980 Netflix and HBO millions of viewers every time 00:14:48.980 --> 00:14:51.679 she glares at a murder suspect, she accumulates 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:54.340 power. Power to do what? to force studios to 00:14:54.340 --> 00:14:55.860 do what she wants behind the scenes. And what 00:14:55.860 --> 00:14:58.059 she wants is to completely overhaul who gets 00:14:58.059 --> 00:15:00.620 to sit in the director's chair. Precisely. In 00:15:00.620 --> 00:15:03.460 2017, she made a very public pledge to work with 00:15:03.460 --> 00:15:06.379 a female director every 18 months. She looked 00:15:06.379 --> 00:15:08.379 at the massive gender disparity in Hollywood 00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:11.220 and decided to fix it herself. And the execution 00:15:11.220 --> 00:15:13.679 of that pledge is staggering. It wasn't just 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.500 lip service. Our sources note that as of early 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:19.840 2025, she has worked with 19 female directors 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:23.549 in just eight years. 19. She doesn't just talk 00:15:23.549 --> 00:15:25.870 about feminism on red carpets, she puts her entire 00:15:25.870 --> 00:15:28.370 economic weight behind it. That is huge. Think 00:15:28.370 --> 00:15:30.590 about the Hollywood math. If an unknown female 00:15:30.590 --> 00:15:33.350 director pitches an indie film to a studio, the 00:15:33.350 --> 00:15:35.929 studio says it's too risky. But if that same 00:15:35.929 --> 00:15:38.850 director says Nicole Kidman is attached to star, 00:15:39.490 --> 00:15:42.149 the studio instantly writes a check. Wow, yeah. 00:15:42.330 --> 00:15:44.629 Helena Raine, who directed Kidman in the erotic 00:15:44.629 --> 00:15:47.970 thriller Baby Girl, explicitly stated that Kidman 00:15:47.970 --> 00:15:50.309 is one of the very few people in power who actually 00:15:50.309 --> 00:15:52.409 practices what she preaches. Let's talk about 00:15:52.409 --> 00:15:55.090 the artistic dividend of Baby Girl. Kidman plays 00:15:55.090 --> 00:15:57.730 a powerful CEO navigating a high -risk affair, 00:15:57.970 --> 00:15:59.850 and her performance won her the Volpe Cup for 00:15:59.850 --> 00:16:02.549 Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival in 2024. 00:16:03.090 --> 00:16:05.610 For context, the Volpe Cup is essentially the 00:16:05.610 --> 00:16:08.029 gold standard for global art house prestige. 00:16:08.769 --> 00:16:10.950 It proves she hasn't lost her fastball at all. 00:16:11.149 --> 00:16:13.129 But there is a heartbreaking parallel attached 00:16:13.129 --> 00:16:15.860 to that exact moment. She traveled to Venice 00:16:15.860 --> 00:16:18.059 to accept the award, but tragically, she had 00:16:18.059 --> 00:16:20.200 to miss the actual ceremony because she received 00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:22.600 word that her mother had just passed away. Oh, 00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:25.179 wow. That brings us right back full circle to 00:16:25.179 --> 00:16:28.659 1984. It really does. The woman she paused her 00:16:28.659 --> 00:16:31.220 entire teenage career for, the woman she studied 00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:34.220 massage therapy to help carry, she loses her 00:16:34.220 --> 00:16:37.200 at the exact moment she reaches this new pinnacle 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:39.809 of her career. It is incredibly poignant, but 00:16:39.809 --> 00:16:42.830 her mother's influence on her resilience is undeniably 00:16:42.830 --> 00:16:45.309 clear in how she operates today, because Kidman 00:16:45.309 --> 00:16:48.049 just keeps building. She never stops. Jamie Lee 00:16:48.049 --> 00:16:49.929 Curtis, who co -starred with her in the upcoming 00:16:49.929 --> 00:16:52.830 series, Garpetta, summarized her industry power 00:16:52.830 --> 00:16:56.490 perfectly. Curtis said, quote, People work when 00:16:56.490 --> 00:16:58.870 Nicole works. Think about that for a second. 00:16:58.950 --> 00:17:01.490 Apply that to your own industry. She didn't just 00:17:01.490 --> 00:17:03.870 figure out how to survive past 50 in a business 00:17:03.870 --> 00:17:06.470 designed to discard her. She transformed herself 00:17:06.470 --> 00:17:09.700 into an entire economy. She is a walking stimulus 00:17:09.700 --> 00:17:12.299 package that employs dozens of other women. And 00:17:12.299 --> 00:17:14.799 the industry pays her handsomely for that infrastructure. 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:17.140 Yeah. Forbes named her the highest paid actress 00:17:17.140 --> 00:17:20.240 in the world in 2024, bringing in 31 million 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:22.400 dollars. And she is maintaining this relentless 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:25.279 pace while navigating massive personal shifts 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:29.460 concurrently. Just in January 2026, her divorce 00:17:29.460 --> 00:17:32.299 from country star Keith Urban was finalized after 00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:35.339 nearly 20 years of marriage. Yet she never stops 00:17:35.339 --> 00:17:38.440 moving forward. The sheer volume of projects 00:17:38.440 --> 00:17:41.160 she's developing, from the spy thriller Lioness 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:43.539 to the adaptation Margot's Got Money Troubles, 00:17:43.779 --> 00:17:46.660 is dizzying. When Time Magazine asked her in 00:17:46.660 --> 00:17:48.920 2025 why she works so much, she didn't say it 00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:51.220 was for the awards. She said she does it because 00:17:51.220 --> 00:17:53.599 she can create jobs for people and help newcomers 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:55.339 get their foot in the door. So when we look at 00:17:55.339 --> 00:17:57.400 the totality of her legacy, she is not just a 00:17:57.400 --> 00:18:00.480 survivor of the Hollywood machine, she is a master 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:02.740 architect. She studied the blueprints of how 00:18:02.740 --> 00:18:04.940 stardom works and then she redrew them. From 00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:07.480 a stuttering kid using a Sydney theater as a 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:09.880 refuge from the sun to a 31 million dollar a 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:12.880 year powerhouse who literally shapes industry 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:15.559 hiring practices. She proves that the ultimate 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:18.160 Hollywood power isn't just standing in the spotlight. 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:21.200 It's having the power to constantly transform 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:24.359 what that spotlight is illuminating. And despite 00:18:24.359 --> 00:18:27.440 all the wealth and the influence, she still claims 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.599 she approaches every single role like she just 00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:33.460 graduated from drama school. That underlying 00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:36.160 curiosity, that need to understand other people 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:38.980 never faded. Which is amazing after all these 00:18:38.980 --> 00:18:41.519 decades in the industry. It is. Which brings 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:43.240 me to a final thought I want to leave you with 00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:46.140 today. It's inspired by the New Yorker critic, 00:18:46.440 --> 00:18:48.869 Emily Nussbaum. who made a brilliant observation 00:18:48.869 --> 00:18:51.450 about what makes Kidman's acting so hypnotic. 00:18:51.630 --> 00:18:53.869 What did she say? She noted that while most actors 00:18:53.869 --> 00:18:56.069 specialize in transparency, trying to show you 00:18:56.069 --> 00:18:58.809 their soul, Kidman's great gift is her ability 00:18:58.809 --> 00:19:01.269 to wear a mask and simultaneously let you feel 00:19:01.269 --> 00:19:03.970 what it's like to hide behind it. Wow. It's the 00:19:03.970 --> 00:19:05.869 emotional invisibility cloak we talked about 00:19:05.869 --> 00:19:08.609 fully realized. She shows you the armor, but 00:19:08.609 --> 00:19:10.950 she also lets you feel the weight of it. Exactly. 00:19:11.329 --> 00:19:13.509 So think about the masks you wear in your own 00:19:13.509 --> 00:19:16.049 professional or personal life. We all have them, 00:19:16.130 --> 00:19:18.849 the competent employee, the perfect parent, the 00:19:18.849 --> 00:19:21.809 fearless leader. We use them to navigate environments 00:19:21.809 --> 00:19:25.009 that intimidate us. But ask yourself, are those 00:19:25.009 --> 00:19:27.710 masks hiding your true potential from the world? 00:19:28.170 --> 00:19:30.890 Or like Nicole Kidman, are they the exact tools 00:19:30.890 --> 00:19:33.109 you need to finally express who you really are?