Nicole Kidman has kept good on a commitment she made publicly: to work with at least one female director every 18 months. “I’ve actually so far exceeded it,” she tells Variety in a wide-ranging interview with the Oscar and Emmy winner. Her recent collaborations include Sofia Coppola (“The Beguiled”), Jane Campion (“Top of the Lake”), Karyn Kusama (“Destroyer”), Andrea Arnold (“Big Little Lies'” upcoming second season), and Susanne Bier (“The Undoing,” an upcoming HBO limited series). “So there’s five in two and a half years,” Kidman tallies. But she knows that the director’s chair isn’t the only place women are underrepresented in the industry. “I’ve only worked with two [female] DPs,” she reveals. “That’s not good enough.”
The “Big Little Lies” actress and exec producer previously explained her vow to work with more women directors by saying that talking the talk of gender equality wasn’t enough, and in order to be an advocate, “you actually have to put things into action.” She felt she could participate in the movement and help “change the statistics in [her] field” by opening up opportunities for female filmmakers.
On that note: Kidman feels hopeful about the changes Hollywood has undergone in the year since Harvey Weinstein was ousted and #MeToo became a global conversation, but she doesn’t want the dialogue — or plans to make tangible change — to stop. “I think it’s still going to be a long road,” Kidman admits. “Things don’t change overnight. We all know that, and it’s important to keep reiterating that, because what happens is people go, ‘Oh, well. That’s done.’ This is serious stuff that needs to be dealt with for years and years to actually really shift it,” she says. It’s important to acknowledge that the industry is undergoing a much-needed, long overdue transformation — but it’s going to take more time and work to solve these systemic problems.
Kidman is in the awards conversation thanks to her roles as a detective in crime thriller “Destroyer,” hitting theaters December 25, and the mother of a teen sent to gay conversion camp in “Boy Erased,” screening now. She’ll be seen next in “Aquaman,” scheduled for release December 21.
