20 Questions: Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman is equal parts wild red hair, long legs, beguiling smile and spontaneous combustion—nice stuff on its own, devastating when combined with her acting talents. Working on TV and in film since the age of 14, she was chosen as best actress in a poll of the Australian public when she was 17. Kidman first wowed American audiences as a seagoing survivor in "Dead Calm." She followed that as a brainy babe in "Days of Thunder," then played Dutch Schultz's moll in "Billy Bathgate. " Next up: "Far and Away," an 1800s period drama directed by Ron Howard in which Kidman plays an upper-class Irish immigrant finding her way in America and falling in love. Contributing Editor David Rensin spoke with Kidman in Los Angeles. Her husband, Tom Cruise, sat for a "20 Questions" interview in 1986, which she had read only the night before. "It was fascinating to read about a Tom I'd never known," she said.

1.

[Q] Playboy: What do tall women know that women of average height never will?

[A] Kidman: Tall women know that it takes guts to wear heels. It says "I have no inhibitions about being tall," even though you've spent your whole life being told how big you are. Most tall women stoop to look smaller. I learned early on to be totally self-assured about my height. My father's six foot ten, my mother's five foot ten, my sister's five foot ten and I'm five foot ten.

When I see a guy going out with a taller girl, I immediately like him. It shows that he's confident. Look at Prince Charles. They have to cut Princess Diana's heels down. Most men would be intimidated.

2.

[Q] Playboy: Do the facts that Tom Cruise is a major Hollywood star and your husband help or hinder your getting work?

[A] Kidman: Lots of people think I got Days of Thunder and Far and Away because of Tom. It's not true. The huge studios aren't going to put me in a movie just to please Tom. Besides, whenever Tom's in a movie, it's really his movie. The best of situations occurred when we worked on Far and Away. Director Ron Howard always dealt with us separately. "OK, I want Nicole to call me at four P.M. and Tom to call me at seven-thirty P.M." He didn't try to reach me through Tom. He gave us equal power. Obviously, though, when the movie comes out, lots of people are going to go because Tom's in it.

3.

[Q] Playboy: What can Tom do that will make you laugh instantly, and what can you do that will make him laugh instantly?

[A] Kidman: He does these funny little dances. He's a really good dancer, but he sends himself up. He can do Elvis really well. Also, his laugh. His nose crinkles up and his teeth sort of come forward. He opens his whole mouth and throws his head back. As soon as he does that, I'm in hysterics because it's so infectious. [Smiles] But then, I'm in love with him.

I do lots of different accents and stuff. He likes that. He always says, "Oh, God, you're a character, Nicole." Hmmm. That's really personal. That answer was more personal than anything. It's funny how I just got embarrassed. But yeah. See, I smile even when I'm thinking about him.

4.

[Q] Playboy: In Far and Away you're Irish. How many ways can you cook potatoes?

[A] Kidman: Scalloped potatoes, boiled potatoes, baked potatoes, German-style potato salad and, my favorite, mashed potatoes. You boil the potatoes, add a little garlic and salt, mmm. And then the butter. And milk. But, they are very, very bad for you. I'm sure I even love instant mashed potatoes.

5.

[Q] Playboy: While working on Far and Away, what special communication did you and Ron Howard share as fellow redheads?

[A] Kidman: Funny. Ron says he has no preference for redheads, but it's the first thing I talked about with his wife, Cheryl, who's also a redhead, as are all four of their kids. Ron makes every person feel that they're special. You would do anything for the guy. Ron is loyal. He keeps his promises. He has a great sense of humor. And I love it when a director can suggest something to me that wasn't anything I'd have ever come up with myself. For example, there's a scene in the film where Tom has a pot over his genitals and I have to look under the pot and react. I did it a couple times and it was going well. Everyone was laughing and it was very funny. But I did it from the viewpoint of, "Oh, my God, this is the most shocking thing I've ever seen." And then Ron came up and said, "Enjoy it." That's all he said.

6.

[Q] Playboy: Your dad is a biochemist. Do you believe in personal chemistry?

[A] Kidman: Something hits you like a thunderbolt when you meet the person you want to be with. You never forget it. If it happens to both of you, that's it. Chemistry is if you still get all warm and tingly when the person you love compliments you. Hugs and kisses still make you blush. I still blush. I still want to impress Tom. I still do all those things to nurture our relationship—which is particularly important to actors who are separated a lot. If that means talking on the phone for two hours when you're extremely tired, then do it. If that means flying on the weekend when you've had two hours' sleep, you do it. And it doesn't mean giving up your goals and your career; all it means is pushing yourself a little harder.

7.

[Q] Playboy: What one thing can men do that would make women so much happier? And why do you suppose men refuse to do it?

[A] Kidman: They can be honest. Men—people—aren't honest because they're scared. To be honest you have to be willing to accept what you're told and not punish the person for being honest, or lose your temper. Certainly, you'll react to what you hear, but you shouldn't hold on to it for years and always bring it up.

8.

[Q] Playboy: Magazine surveys about what women want in men indicate that a sense of humor tops the list. Does this mean there's hope for funny guys who don't look like matinee idols?

[A] Kidman: Yeah, the secret's out. [Laughs] How are you going to get through the next fifty years if you can't laugh about things? The belly laugh—when tears are coming out of your eyes—is an unrivaled sensation.

9.

[Q] Playboy: A lot of people didn't see Billy Bathgate. What did you do in that movie that you think people should see—and why should they pick up the video?

[A] Kidman: I like my American accent. I never slipped out of it. It was very particular: a blue blood, 1935. I worked with a coach, but basically all you have to do is listen to the voice you want to copy and get the rhythm. And then, before you know it, you get the accent. I even stayed in my accent between takes, except when I was on the phone to my mother in Australia.

10.

[Q] Playboy: What movies should Americans see if they want to learn about Australia?

[A] Kidman: The Fringe Dwellers, directed by Bruce Beresford. It's about the aborigines. Sweetie, a Jane Campion film. It's a very avant-garde study of parents. The Man from Snowy River shows the beauty of Australia. I'd still like to see more contemporary Australian movies, but there's a shortage of directors. Now they're all working over here. They did something right during the Seventies and early Eighties because look how many there are: Peter Weir, Bruce Beresford, Fred Schepisi, Phil Noyce. We haven't seen that next generation of Australian directors yet, but I think we will during the next five years.

11.

[Q] Playboy: What's your routine on the almost fifteen-hour flight from Los Angeles to Sydney?

[A] Kidman: It's all carefully planned. I'm an expert. I board. I change into sweats in the bathroom. Pull my hair back. Put on heaps of moisturizer. Drink about three glasses of water, if I can manage that much. And then I start to drink herbal tea—rose hip tea because it has a lot of vitamin C. Then I eat dinner, but I don't eat the red meat, just salads and the light food. Meanwhile, I'm still spraying Evian on my face and drinking water. Then I watch some of the movie. But it's always good to go to sleep during the movie because all the lights are turned off and everyone's quiet. I put a mask over my eyes, put in earplugs. I don't take any pills because they make me groggy. I wake up just to drink water or chamomile tea. And I time myself to sleep for only eight hours. I wake up. I go into the bathroom, wash my face, clean my teeth. Then I eat breakfast, watch the newsreel on what's happening in Australia and read for an hour or two, and we're about to land. Then it's back into the bathroom, get changed and deplane. And everyone always says, "God, you look so fresh!" Oh, and I always take a Walkman.

12.

[Q] Playboy: Australia is a land of pouches—koalas, kangaroos and other marsupials.How has the pouch infiltrated the commercial sector as a consumer product?

[A] Kidman: The pouch. Are you kidding me? I'm going to go back and say that an American interviewer said we were the Land of Pouches. No, there are no pouch products I can think of. [Laughs] I might go back and start a company called the Pouch Company. Talk about Pouch Theory. Gee, how the hell did you think of that?

13.

[Q] Playboy: You first came to America's attention in Dead Calm, a film about personal terror on the high seas. In it, your husband uses a flare gun as a weapon. What methods of self-defense do you know?

[A] Kidman: You want me to get brutal? At school we had self-defense lessons. What you do is you push the guy's eyeballs in with your thumbs so that it blinds him, and then you kick him. You know where. Blind him, kick him and run. Is that not good self-defense?

14.

[Q] Playboy: Did the filming of Dead Calm ruin sailing for you?

[A] Kidman: It didn't. I love it. We lived out at sea. I learned to sail an eighty-foot yacht single-handed. I had an Italian skipper who trained me for six weeks prior to the film. He was extremely tough and would yell at me all the time, but he was an excellent teacher. The best thing is sailing at night. You feel, Gosh, there are no worries. This is what [life's] about.

15.

[Q] Playboy: You also sky-dive. What were you thinking the first time you stepped out of an airplane?

[A] Kidman: "No, no, no, no, no! My helmet! My gloves!" I kept coming up with excuses. Then Tom jumped out and he was gone in one second. When somebody jumps out, you expect it to look as if he's floating away. But he's gone and that is terrifying. Then you stand there and feel the cold air. My teeth still chatter every time—before I think, Just do it! You feel like you're suspended in the air. I just love it. I tried to convince my parents to let me jump when I was fourteen, and they wouldn't. You can live life terrified of doing everything, or you can choose some things that you really want and do them so that, when you're eighty years old, you won't regret having missed out. I don't want to have any regrets.

16.

[Q] Playboy: When you travel abroad, what's always on the sightseeing itinerary?

[A] Kidman: I will always visit some sort of jail. In Ireland, while filming Far and Away, I visited a jail where people from the different uprisings have been held since 1917. You can feel the ghosts. Men were killed there, hanged, shot for what they believed in. And the place was so cold. You can imagine Ireland in the middle of winter. There's the cell and corridors with open windows where the snow would come in. Men lived in these conditions for years.

I also like to go to cemeteries. In Dingle, I went to the old cemetery where they shot Ryan's Daughter. I went in the moonlight. In Australia, I went to a place where all the convicts were held—U2 wrote a song about it. It's important for people to visit these places where history resides, even if it's upsetting.

17.

[Q] Playboy: Many actors claim they act to overcome shyness. Is acting just a form of self-exploration?

[A] Kidman: No. That's indulgent. I understand shyness. But you have to grow out of it because it's distracting. I did it by working on an Australian series where I was before the camera six days a week, all day, for seven months. Prior to that, I'd always been scared and shy and thought the crew was whispering about me, "Oh, God, she's terrible." But in spite of my worries, I still found acting fascinating. One reason was that I got to meet boys. I got my first kiss on stage. I always had a crush on someone in my acting class. That's the only thing that kept me going back on the weekends, which is so ridiculous to admit, but it's true. That's what really pulls you at that age. Dustin Hoffman says the same thing: He did it to meet girls. You get to dress up, you get to pretend you're sexy, you get to be all these things that you're actually not. I did a play, Spring Awakening, a very dark period drama. It was all about sexual repression. The boys in it had to appear naked, and it was the first time I'd seen a young boy naked.

18.

[Q] Playboy: Your bio says that as a teenager, you thought you were the ugliest girl in the world. Should we believe that?

[A] Kidman: You hear every actress say that. It's terrible. I looked very different. In Australia, you worship the sun and go to the beach all the time. The beautiful look is straight blonde hair, blue eyes and olive skin. Being a fair-skinned redhead, I didn't go out in the sun much. When I swam, I'd have to put zinc oxide—totally humiliating—on my nose, wear sun hats, cover up. Any time I tried to tan, I'd get beet red and peel. I'd also spend ages trying to blow-dry my hair straight because curly hair embarrassed me. That's how conformist I was. Anything that takes you away from the norm in your youth is not something you relish.

19.

[Q] Playboy: What's the best advice about marriage you have heard and who told it to you?

[A] Kidman: Tom gave it to me. He said, "This marriage is going to last because we're going to do whatever it takes. There's absolutely no limit to make it work."

20.

[Q] Playboy: What item in your house requires the most explanation when guests mention it?

[A] Kidman: Our puppy. We had people over the other night. He came out, jumped on one person. He bit another. He drew blood. He goes crazy and runs around the house. It's very embarrassing.

far and away the best redheaded gift from down under speaks out on prisons, pouches and potato cuisine