In Focus With Nicole Kidman: 'Babygirl,' Commitment to Female Directors & More | THR Video - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

Nicole Kidman sat down with The Hollywood Reporter during her THR cover shoot and talks about Meryl Streep being her role model, her commitment to female directors and working with Halina Reijn for 'Babygirl.' Plus, she offers advice for young women.

Transcript

00:00Some of the best advice I've given is,

00:02go easy on yourself, Nicole, go easy,

00:05because I'm probably my harshest critic.

00:19I've always said Meryl Streep has been such a beacon

00:23of how to do it all,

00:26how to have children,

00:28and how to have a career,

00:30and how to have a...

00:34I think, you know, I remember the speech she gave,

00:37I think it was a graduation speech

00:39where she talked about the pursuit of excellence.

00:42And that was always,

00:44I think when you set out to be perfect,

00:47try to be the best or any of those things,

00:50I don't think that's the right advice.

00:52The advice is pursuit of excellence is extremely important.

00:57And then you're going to fail,

00:59and you're going to have to get back up again,

01:01but you can keep moving forward.

01:03And so I had so many voices and women who are a part of that,

01:10picking me back up,

01:12and saying, you can do it, you can keep moving forward.

01:15There's so many times during a long career where it ebbs and flows.

01:21And it's in the downtimes,

01:25it's in the ebbs when you go,

01:28that's when I actually need the support.

01:30Anyone can be your friend when it's all going well,

01:34but it's when the chips are down,

01:37when the people step in.

01:40That came out of a conversation with Meryl, strangely enough.

01:43It was a night after,

01:45I think we'd been to the Academy Awards,

01:47and we all kind of went,

01:48well, we're not really going to go out now to a party.

01:52We're just going to, well, do you want to go grab a bite?

01:54And so we all went and we were sitting around the table

01:59and we were talking about how do we change the ratio of these,

02:06in terms of women directors, writers in the industry.

02:10And that was where it was like, well, and Kate was there,

02:13Cate Blanchett, a whole, a number of us.

02:18And Meryl was like, we have to work with them.

02:21We can't just say it's really important.

02:24We actually have to do the work.

02:25And so that's when I went, okay.

02:27And I was heading off to the Cannes Film Festival

02:29and suddenly I was sitting up on the podium there

02:32at a press conference.

02:33And I went, yeah, I pledge to work every 18 months.

02:36There's so many women like Jane Campion and Susannah Beer.

02:39I mean, there's now Helena Rain and so many different women

02:43who have been an enormous part of guiding me

02:46in terms of directing.

02:48I genuinely believe women with power

02:50would behave differently.

02:52Want to start?

02:54With something like Baby Girl, I'm being watched over

02:57by a woman who has written, is directing,

03:02and is also an actress herself.

03:05So she's shaping this role and this performance for me

03:10so that it is an extraordinary complex, deep, funny.

03:22The woman is, by having Helena do that,

03:26I could talk to her about my secrets and my feelings

03:28and the things I have gone through in my life

03:32and she could share hers.

03:34And I felt very safe with her.

03:36And I felt like I could try anything

03:37and she was never going to betray me

03:41or use me in a particular way that wasn't going to feel safe

03:46and wasn't going to feel respectful.

03:49And she would basically cherish my heart and my soul,

03:53which is kind of a really beautiful place.

03:57Be it actresses, producers, writers,

04:03everyone who's starting out in the industry,

04:05I want to say that.

04:06I'm in your corner, you know, cheering you on

04:10or a part of your career and helping you build it.

04:14And I'm also happy to share any of my knowledge.

04:17Yeah, in terms of what I've experienced,

04:20what I've done wrong financially, things you need,

04:23because there isn't a wealth of information out there,

04:26unless you actually go and seek it out.

04:31As much as you appear like you're confident

04:35and you've got it all together,

04:37there's so many times when you're like,

04:40I'm shattered or I'm exhausted

04:42or how am I meant to process this?

04:44Or how do I do this, this?

04:46And I have a huge sense of responsibility.

04:50So I have to, I'm always like, it's okay.

04:53Some of the best advice I've given is,

04:55go easy on yourself, Nicole, go easy.

04:58And it's a lovely thing to remind to be,

05:02because I'm probably my harshest critic.

In Focus With Nicole Kidman: 'Babygirl,' Commitment to Female Directors & More | THR Video

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