Nicole Kidman explains her 'Paperboy' role, '50 Shades' gets a screenwriter, more movie briefs
Nicole Kidman stars in director Lee Daniels' New Orleans-shot drama 'The Paperboy.' It will open up the 2012 New Orleans Film Festival with a 7:30 p.m. screening on Oct. 11 at the Joy Theatre on Canal Street. (Photo by Millennium Entertainment)
By Mike Scott, movie critic NOLA.comon October 08, 2012 at 7:00 PM, updated October 08, 2012 at 7:04 PMNicole Kidman has people talking. In fact, it seems like any mention of Lee Daniels' New Orleans-shot "The Paperboy" includes a reference to her daring turn as a trashy-as-can-be jailhouse floozy -- along with whisperings that it could bring an Oscar nomination.
Daring or not, though, it's not a typical role for Kidman -- and certainly not the kind of glamorous role one would normally associate with a Hollywood star of her stature. In one already-notorious scene, she urinates on co-star Zac Efron to ease the pain of a jellyfish sting. In another, she is brought to orgasm by the sight of an imprisoned John Cusack. And while shooting the film in New Orleans last year, she reportedly hit the streets herself to scour second-hand stores for her own costumes.
Certainly nobody said anything about any of that at movie-star school.
Oscar potential or not, what would possess her to take such a role? Talking to Variety recently after a New York Film Festival screening of Daniels' film, Kidman said that more than anything, these days she is aiming "to be free and open" in her career.
"I'm 45 years old, and as you get older, you get frightened in this day and age; there are so many opinions out there," she said. "I don't want to be running scared. I'd rather push through the next decades giving all I've got."
Locals can see her doing just that Thursday (Oct. 11) when "The Paperboy" screens at the Joy Theater on Canal Street as the opening-night film of the 2012 New Orleans Film Festival. Kidman's new take on her career tops today's Evening Edition, a regular rundown of recent Hollywood headlines from around the web:
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