Nicole Kidman is one of the leading ladies in the Hollywood industry. She found her breakthrough role in the ’90s, but she’s still keeping up with the same pace and giving exceptional performances till now.
The actress has made significant appearances in movies like Batman Forever, To Die For, Moulin Rouge, The Others, The Hours, and many more. That’s not it. She is also one of the highest-paid actresses in the world of cinema.
But there have also been some of her near-miss roles, including an Oscar-winning one — she does not regret. No doubt, portraying that role would have taken Kidman to her second win at the Oscars, but there is a very strong reason why she turned down that role.
Nicole Kidman Does Not Regret Turning Down an Oscar-Winning Role
Nicole Kidman achieved an Academy Award for her performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours. She had no thoughts when another Oscar-winning role in Stephen Daldry’s film The Reader came to her. Ultimately, Kate Winslet took the role of Hanna Schmitz and won the prestigious award for Best Actress in 2009.
Although Kidman was eager to take the lead role as a former concentration camp guard, she turned it down because, at that time, she was pregnant. Despite this, the team again offered her the opportunity to be in the film, but she stood firm on her decision. Years later, the star told The Telegraph that it was her responsibility to make sure her baby was safe:
“I didn’t want to be working while I was pregnant. Some women could, maybe if they’d already had a lot of children, but for me it was such a huge place to be and I wanted to carry my baby and keep her healthy and peaceful.”
Kidman continued there’s nothing to regret because she believes that turning down the role is the “greatest” decision she had taken at that time:
“It’s actually the opposite. It was the greatest choice I made. The child who came out, Sunday Rose, is just heaven. If I get worried about anything I just go back to that – the joy. And I’ve got two adult children. Ella lives in London and Connor is a DJ. They’re functioning in the world, happy. I’m so grateful to have four healthy, happy children. I touch wood.”
Kidman chose to prioritize her baby, and she can’t be blamed for that. It’s her choice, and the best part is that she does not even regret it.
Not Only Nicole Kidman But Kate Winslet Would Have Also Lost the Role of Hanna Schmitz
Kate Winslet has given one of the most acclaimed performances as Hanna Schmitz, who would stand trial after being accused of a Nazi crime post-World War II in The Reader. Winslet had already read the book even before the film hit theatres. She told The Diva Review:
“The role, the character, the novel first came to my attention six years ago, when I was pregnant with our son Joe.”
She continued.
“I read the book and I was 27 at the time, and I was absolutely gripped and compelled and ultimately devastated by the novel and immediately thought, ‘Oh, well, somebody must be making this into a movie. I wonder who’s going to play Hanna Schmitz?’”
Back then, however, she thought she was too young for the part. But later, when the role was offered to her, Winslet discovered she couldn’t do the film anyway because she was already scheduled to do Revolutionary Road.
After Winslet dropped the project, Kidman would be cast in The Reader‘s lead role. But once she left the project, Winslet was offered the part again and continued the project without affecting her schedule.
Source: The Telegraph, The Diva Review
