Nicole Kidman Gets Hollywood Walk of Fame Star
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (Reuters) – Actress Nicole Kidman on Monday declared herself “thrilled” to be the newest star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, adding that she doesn’t care if “people walk all over me for the rest of my life.”
The Golden Globe-winning actress claimed the 2,211th star on the fabled sidewalk beside the Kodak Theater, home to the Academy Awards, with a whispered “Wow!”
Dressed in a black knit suit and spiked heels, the flame-haired Australian-raised actress attended the dedication ceremony with a gaggle of executives from Paramount Studios, which produced her latest film, “The Hours.”
Her critically acclaimed portrayal of British writer Virginia Woolf in “The Hours” won Kidman a Golden Globe nomination and spawned talk of a second Oscar nomination for Kidman, who earned her first nod last year for “Moulin Rouge!”
Kidman, 35, won best actress Golden Globes for her performances as a fame-obsessed housewife in 1995’s “To Die For,” and as a consumption- and love-wracked courtesan in “Moulin Rouge!”
“I don’t think anyone deserves this award more than Nicole does,” Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing said, adding that in “The Hours,” Kidman “literally disappears and all you see is her performance.” In the film, Kidman wears a false nose to make her look more like the real life Woolf.
Kidman raised her eyebrows and smiled doubtfully when Lansing said the actress “could have become a giant star based on her looks.”
BACK TO WORK
When her turn came to speak, the tall, slender star looked out over crowds thronging the barricades, and said, “Thank you everyone for showing up. I didn’t think anybody would come.”
“This is sort of amazing to be standing here and to be part of a Hollywood tradition that has been around for so long and will be around for so much longer. This is the icing on the cake … I have never been so excited to have people walk all over me for the rest of my life.”
Kidman, who not only wore a prosthetic nose but adopted striking physical mannerisms to transform herself into Woolf, insisted that her much-discussed dowdiness was not a handicap.
“It wasn’t distracting at all,” she said. “The physical and the emotional happened at the same time … everything came into play at the same time with the confidence of (director Stephen) Daldry to say, ‘Listen, I think we should do this’ and to help me through it.”
Kidman planned to ride out her second awards season — and speculation over whether she’ll get a second Oscar nod — by working.
“It’s the focus at the moment, but I am actually going on to my next film which I am starting in February … so I get to put my head down and do what I love to do best.”
Kidman has cemented her status as a top box-office draw with hits like “The Others,” “Moulin Rouge” and “The Hours,” all released in the 18 months since she split from husband Tom Cruise, now linked to Spanish actress Penelope Cruz.
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