Nicole Kidman's Unyielding Commitment to Women

She made a vow to work with a female director every 18 months in 2017. Eight years later, she’s worked with 27 and counting.

She’ll certainly be remembered as one of the greatest actors of her generation — the current First Lady of Cinema, as I like to call her — but Nicole Kidman’s other legacy is one that will equally leave a permanent imprint on the industry: her efforts to seek out, cultivate and employ female directors in an industry where nearly 9 out of 10 working directors are male. “She really understands the power that she has and she knows that what she’s doing is really allowing a lot of people in the door or in the room that might otherwise have taken them years to get there,” filmmaker Mimi Cave tells me. (In March, Kidman starred in Cave’s psychological thriller, Holland, the second feature-length film from the director.)

Kidman in Holland.

In February, the number was up to 19. 19 female directors that Kidman had worked with in eight years after making that 2017 vow. In true Nicole Kidman fashion, that number has jumped to 27 just three months later. Back in 2017, according to UCLA’s “Hollywood Diversity Report,” female directors comprised only 12.6% of the total amongst theatrically released motion pictures. The most recent data, collected in 2024, has seen that number rise to a pitiful 15.4%. But if you dig a little deeper, you see the significance of these incremental changes over time. UCLA first began collecting data in 2011. At that time, the number was 4.1%, indicating a nearly 400% increase in the last 14 years. And while this jump isn’t credited to Nicole Kidman alone, her deliberate choices and her ethos around using her power to create opportunities is one whose ripple effect is helping that number rise.

“I was going to make it possible,” Kidman said during a chat with Variety’s Angelique Jackson for a Kering Woman in Motion talk (Kidman was on hand to receive the Woman in Motion Award from Kering chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault, Cannes president Iris Knobloch and festival director Thierry Frémaux).

“I was at a point where we had a discussion where there was such a disparity in terms of the choices. You’d go, ‘Could a woman direct this?’ And there just wasn’t the number of names where you could consider people. They’d say it was someone’s first time and we don’t want to risk it. I had to start to say, ‘Well, this is how I am doing it and this is what I am doing.’”

This commitment has led to films like The Beguiled (dir. Sofia Coppola), Destroyer (dir. Karyn Kusama), Babygirl (dir. Halina Reijn) and the highly anticipated Practical Magic 2 (dir. Susanne Bier) amongst many others. And that’s just the film side! As Kidman explains, it’s not only about giving female directors the opportunity; it’s about making sure they’re properly resourced to help them succeed.

“We will take the risk and we are going to mentor and support and help and then really protect. Because part of it is protecting and surrounding the women with almost a forcefield of protection and support so they can do their best work. At the same time, it’s giving them the opportunity where they feel like this isn’t the only chance. A lot of is like, ‘OK, you get one shot,’ which as we know creatively is almost impossible… we need to support the long process of building the female voices, particularly the directors and the writers and the crew members.”

I was reminded of my conversation with Nicole last June when she told me that though a lot of actors won’t work with first-time directors, she will. It’s not just a desire; for her, it’s a calling. “That's my purpose in the industry and my place in the world,” she told me.

“I was bet on; I was a kid from Australia who was 5’11 and people bet on me, so I like to be able to offer that back to complete my full circle. I like being able to support the underdogs and I love the discovery of new talent.”

In an increasingly risk-averse industry, relying heavily on IP and sequels/remakes, new talent can beget new ideas. There’s risk, of course, but Kidman’s eye is smartly on the reward. A reward that she’s seen pay off in dividends through her unyielding commitment and willingness to consider art as a process rather than a destination. And as with any process, having an experienced advisor is helpful, critical even in an industry where no two films are made the same. Mimi Cave tells me it’s not merely the Kidman sign-off that you’re getting; it’s also the education. “Working with her, someone that is that experienced, far beyond what so many people on set are, you’re getting to connect with someone who has that mastery, observe how they work and soak up all of their experience and intelligence in a way that you can’t really ever go back from — in the best way. It’s hard to work with other people who are quite as good as she is. So maybe that’s the one way she’s ruined me,” Cave says with a laugh.

But it’s not just the making of these movies; Kidman’s also a marketing genius (not even always by outright intention). She has also, particularly in the last few years, figured out a way to draw attention to her projects in exciting and culturally significant ways. Take her chugging an entire glass of milk during her speech at the National Board of Review Awards gala.

It’s moments like these that not only solidify her commitment to her projects, but show a shrewd understanding of making a meal out of a few key ingredients in an Internet age which fixates as much on the box as the product that comes in it. But then there are more innocuous moments (“Nicole Kidman stuns not knowing what Pop Crave is”) that also manage to grab the zeitgeist and draw attention to her projects.

“I’m looking to experiment,” Kidman told Variety.

“I don’t want to be contained. And I don’t want to be safe. So constantly looking to push the boundaries is what I’m looking for.”

Kidman acknowledges that not every decision puts her in awards contention or even can be considered a hit, but every project is nonetheless worthwhile if viewed as building blocks toward something greater. “It’s being willing to take the hits and the judgement and still keep moving forward,” she says, something she’s proven time and time again as the most employed person in Hollywood. And one that shows no sign of slowing down! “Nicole Kidman, ‘The Barefoot Queen Of Cannes,’ Wanted To Party On The Beach But Had To Fly Home For Her Kids’ Exams,” reads the most recent Kidman-centric headline. 

Never has a Hollywood figure straddled the worlds of “she’s an icon, she’s a legend and she is the moment” and “relatable queen” with as much dexterity and flair as AMC’s Nicole Kidman.