Nicole Kidman Biography Nicole Kidman first came to the attention of American audiences with her critically acclaimed performance in the riveting 1989 psychological thriller, Dead Calm. Since then, she has become one of the most sought-after actresses in film. For her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours, Stephen Daldry's feature adaptation of Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Kidman won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Actress. She also received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress and the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear Award for Best Actress (together with Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore, an unprecedented event in that Festival's distinguished history). She was also nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2004, Kidman starred in Lars von Trier's provocative independent feature, Dogville, with an ensemble cast that included Chloë Sevigny, Jeremy Davies, Paul Bettany, Lauren Bacall and Stellan Skarsgård.  She also starred in the psychological thriller Birth, co-starring Lauren Bacall, Danny Huston and Anne Heche, for director Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast).  Her performance in Birth garnered Kidman a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Drama-her seventh nomination. In December of 2003, Kidman received both a Golden Globe Award nomination as Best Actress in a Drama and a Broadcast Film Critics (Critics' Choice) nomination as Best Actress for her performance in Cold Mountain, based on Charles Frazier's best-selling novel and adapted for the screen and directed by Anthony Minghella. Kidman's range and versatility have won her wide acclaim for daring performances. In 2002, her performances in both Baz Luhrmann's innovative musical feature, Moulin Rouge, and in writer/director Alejandro Amenabar's wildly successful psychological thriller, The Others, earned her dual Golden Globe Award nominations-as Best Actress in a Musical and Best Actress in a Drama. She won the Golden Globe for the former. Moulin Rouge also earned Kidman a London Film Critics Circle Best Actress Award and an Oscar® nomination. The Others earned her a BAFTA nomination. In 1995, Kidman starred as Suzanne Stone in director Gus Van Sant's widely acclaimed black comedy To Die For.  For her pitch-perfect, wickedly funny portrayal of a woman obsessed with the dream of becoming a TV personality, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, along with Best Actress Awards from the Boston Film Critics, National Broadcast Film Critics, London Film Critics and the Seattle Film Festival.  She was also nominated by BAFTA in the Best Actress category. Other film credits include: Robert Benton's The Human Stain; Birthday Girl; Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut; Practical Magic; The Peacemaker; Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady; Days of Thunder; Billy Bathgate (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination); Malice; My Life; Ron Howard's Far and Away; and Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever. Kidman made a highly lauded London stage debut in the fall of 1998, starring with Iain Glenn in David Hare's adaptation of The Blue Room for director Sam Mendes. For her performance Kidman, won London's Evening Standard Award “for special and significant contribution to the London Theatre” and was nominated in the Best Actress category for a Laurence Olivier Award.  The Blue Room moved to Broadway for a sold-out, limited run. Born in Hawaii, Kidman spent her childhood in Australia with parents who instilled in her a love of culture and education. Her father is a lecturer in biochemistry and her mother is a nurse/educator. Kidman studied ballet as a young child and made her debut in an Australian film, Bush Christmas, at 14. The much-lauded 1985 Kennedy-Miller mini-series, Vietnam, made her a virtual overnight star in Australia. Only 17 at the time, Kidman was voted Best Actress of the Year by both the Australian public and the Australian Film Institute for her performance. Following her role in Dead Calm, Kidman reunited with the production team of Kennedy-Miller for a second acclaimed mini-series, Bangkok Hilton, and was voted Best Actress of 1989 by the Variety Awards and, once again, the Australian public. Her other notable Australian films include Emerald City (for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination from the Australian Film Institute) and Flirting (the sequel to The Year My Voice Broke). She appeared onstage playing lead roles in Steel Magnolias at the Sydney Seymour Center for which she was nominated Best Newcomer by the Sydney Theater Critics and Spring Awakening at the Australian Theater for Young People. In November of 2003, Nicole Kidman was presented with that year's American Cinematheque Award for excellence in film, only the second actress in the Cinematheque's 18-year tribute history to receive the honor. Kidman will next star in the comedy feature adaptation of Bewitched with Will Ferrell for writer/director Nora Ephron.