Revisiting Nicole Kidman’s 5 Oscar nominations in honor of ‘Babygirl’

Nicole Kidman could be on the verge of receiving her sixth acting Oscar bid for the upcoming A24 erotic thriller “Babygirl,” directed by Halina Reijn, best known for the indie film “Bodies Bodies Bodies” (2022). With the movie already making its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival and Kidman taking home the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, let’s take a closer look at her five previous Oscar nominations, including her one win.

Her first recognition came for the Baz Luhrmann jukebox musical “Moulin Rouge” (2001), where Kidman portrayed a cabaret performer and courtesan in love with an English poet. It is certainly one of her most physical performances, as she performs extravagant musical numbers and showcases strong emotions as her character Satine suffers through an illness. Kidman won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and was part of the movie’s eight Oscar nominations, with the romantic drama winning Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. Kidman lost Best Actress to Halle Berry for “Monster’s Ball” in a historic victory.

The next year, she achieved Oscar glory with Stephen Daldry’s 2002 movie “The Hours,” which explored three timelines and paid tribute to author Virginia Woolf’s 1925 work “Mrs. Dalloway.” Kidman plays the classic writer in 1923 as she struggles to finish the novel, while suffering from depression and mental disorders, a different and reserved performance than last year. That Best Actress race in 2003 was a nailbiter as Kidman won her second Golden Globe and the BAFTA Award, but was defeated at the Screen Actors Guild Awards by Renee Zellweger for “Chicago,” which was the frontrunner to win Best Picture. But Kidman would have the final say as she emerged victorious with the Oscar, being the only win of the film’s nine bids, with presenter Denzel Washington making a playful comment about her nose prosthetic.

Eight years later, she returned with a film adaptation of the Tony-winning David Lindsay-Abaire play “Rabbit Hole” (2010), directed by John Cameron Mitchell, where she plays a mother coping with the sudden death of her four-year-old son and the effects the tragedy has on her marriage. It’s yet another film where her character goes through an emotional roller coaster. Kidman was singled out for her performance, earning a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Oscar nomination, coming short to Natalie Portman in a sweep for “Black Swan.”

In what was another maternal role, she starred in the Garth Davis biographical drama “Lion” (2016), playing the adoptive parent of Indian-born Saroo Brierley, who searches for his biological family. This was Kidman’s first crack at the Best Supporting Actress category, in which she was nominated for the Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Oscar as part of the movie’s six nominations, losing all to Viola Davis for the film adaptation of the play “Fences” in her first Oscar triumph for her Tony-winning role on Broadway.

Going back to her portrayals of iconic influential artists, Kidman earned her latest Oscar citation for her interpretation of comedian Lucille Ball in the Aaron Sorkin biopic “Being the Ricardos” (2021), depicting her marriage to Desi Arnaz and her iconic sitcom. This was the closest Kidman has ever come to potentially getting a second Oscar win, having nabbed her sixth Golden Globe overall, and the race being undecided up until the last minute with how the precursor awards were presented and where certain contenders were nominated. In addition, none of the Best Actress nominees had their movie in the Best Picture lineup – “Being the Ricardos” came away with three acting nominations at the Oscars. Ultimately, she lost to Jessica Chastain for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” who bested her at SAG.

But now Kidman is looking to earn a bookend trophy with “Babygirl,” where she plays Romy, a powerful CEO who begins an illicit affair with a drastically younger intern played by Harris Dickinson, exploring sexual and power dynamics. It seems she will be going back to her physical range as an actress as many critics are calling it her most fearless role, with Damon Wise of Deadline stating she “really goes the distance, imbuing Romy with a psychological vulnerability,” and David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter noting Kidman “swinging from outrage to fear to ravenously lustful consent.” Not to mention that the Volpi Cup for Best Actress has had a recent correlation with Oscar-nominated performances from Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) and Penelope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”) to winners like Emma Stone (“La La Land”) and Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”).

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