Nicole Kidman enjoyed a memorable evening as an honoree at the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute on April 27 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The actress, 56, also reunited with her Big Little Lies co-stars, Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon.
Five years after starring together in the critically acclaimed film drama by David E. Kelley, the trio was seen catching up at the gala event, where Kidman was presented with the Life Achievement Award. The two-season series ran on HBO from February 19, 2017, until July 21, 2019 for a total of 14 episodes.
Based on Liane Moriarty’s 2014 novel of the same title, the highly regarded drama’s first season garnered 16 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and took home eight wins. Having said that, Kidman’s performance was so breathtaking, that, in one scene, co-star Streep was left completely traumatized.
Big Little Lies: How Nicole Kidman’s Performance Shook Meryl Streep
Looking back on the riveting HBO series Big Little Lies, Meryl Streep described in vivid detail how Nicole Kidman took raw emotion to new heights, delivering a screaming scene with a volcanic intensity that few actors can match.
Streep, who is herself known for her countless accolades and depth of experience, admitted to being traumatized by Kidman’s astounding dedication. She remembered Kidman filming a very emotional screaming scene on the first day and repeating it with equal zeal. In her words (via THR):
“I haven’t recovered from that first day, I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. For me, it was traumatizing because I thought this woman is a Valkyrie. How is she able to sustain that? Never letting up, never letting down.”
The Kramer vs. Kramer actress, 74, went on to praise Kidman’s “formidable gifts”, her creative process, her emotional depth, and her “discipline” as an artist. Streep was in awe of her co-star’s ability to tap into such a deep well of emotion and deliver such a powerful performance:
“That’s the time when I really came within breathing distance of the formidable gifts Nicole has, and her process and her seismic bank of emotion she’s got locked up inside there and her stamina and her drive to be an artist and her discipline.”
Nicole Kidman accepted the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award on Saturday night, and an A-list group of her friends and colleagues gave tributes to her long Hollywood career.
Nicole Kidman’s Candid Confession: Exploring Her Aversion to Directing Projects
Nicole Kidman’s speech after receiving the AFI Life Achievement Award was primarily devoted to expressing her gratitude to the filmmakers she has worked with over the years. The Oscar-winning actress simply means to express respect for the roles, not that she has any desire to work behind the camera.
On the AFI red carpet on Saturday night, Kidman told The Hollywood Reporter that her interests don’t align with being a “director”. To quote her:
“I feel like I would be a terrible director because I always have so many ideas. A director has to make choices, and that’s not my strong suit. I’m very good at being passionate and supporting the voices and reading a script and going ‘I love this script,’ or seeing somebody and going, ‘I love this actor, I love this director, how do I support them?’ And they maybe have done nothing [before], but I want to get behind them.”
The actress also gushed as she accepted her award from Meryl Streep, with whom she had starred in The Hours and Big Little Lies (via THR):
“Meryl Streep, I just love you, I’ve always loved you; I don’t know what it is but you’re a beacon of excellence and warmth and generosity but you’ve been my guiding light, so to receive this from you, you have no idea…and no one can touch you.”
The show, starring Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Streep, chronicled the lives of five women in Monterey, California, as they dealt with a local murder. The announcement of the third season was made in November 2023 (see TVLine).
Both seasons of Big Little Lies are streaming on Max.
