The Paperboy review: Nicole Kidman makes a man out of Zac Efron

PUBLISHED: 18:53 EST, 29 November 2012 | UPDATED: 05:20 EST, 30 November 2012

Racy role: Nicole Kidman, snapped on the set of film Grace, 'made Zac Efron a man'

Nicole Kidman has an impressive effect on mens testosterone levels. Husband Keith Urban began sprouting a beard after starting his relationship with the Academy Award-winning actress.

And Zac Efron said he grew up during the four weeks he worked with Nicole on the wonderfully lurid Southern gothic thriller The Paperboy, in which they have some racy scenes.

Nicole laughed when I mentioned what Efron had told me about working with her.

The rite of passage with me. I made him a man. Oh, no! she cried, in mock horror.

My husband said he started growing a beard since going outwith me. He didnt have muchfacial hair before, so I hope I bring out the testosterone inthem.

In director Lee Daniels The Paperboy, which opens on March15, Nicole gives a corker of a performance an awards contender in my book as Charlotte Bless, a trailer-trash Southern blonde who befriends a death-row inmate played by JohnCusack.

Along the way she meets a lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) and his brother (Efron).

In one scene that was much talked about in Cannes and at the Toronto International Film Festival, Nicoles character visitsCusack in jail and they tease each other to the point of sexualsatisfaction.

Later Nicole, wearing a bikini, squats over Efrons jellyfish-stung body and urinates on him,! to ease the pain.

Its the rawest thing Ive done, she said, though she hates the film being defined by what she terms the peeing scene.

It could also bring a comment or two from her mother, who she said has sometimes rebuked her for her screen choices, though her husband never has.

Theres not really a judgment from my husband. But my mum goes Oh Nicky! after shes seen something pretty full on, but shes done that ever since I was a child. My parents are supportive. They have a sense of humour, and youve got to have that. Lifes life, right?

Rite of passage: Zac Efron, with fellow High School Musical alumni Ashley Tisdale, said he grew up whilst filming with Nicole Kidman

And Nicole agreed that director Daniels work can sometimes be erratic and unpredictable and added: I like that! I dont want homogenised.

For me, it said so much about Charlotte. If thats what Lee wants, and thats whats in the script, and thats whats required, then Im not going to step in and censor it as Nicole.

I just want to help achieve a vision for a director, and sometimes thats going to create controversy, she told me yesterday, speaking on the phone from the set of the film Princess Grace Of Monaco, where she was shooting scenes with Tim Roth and Frank Langella in Brussels.

She added that its important to stay bold and not get scared, even though she admitted that deep down sometimes I go Whoa! Wheres this going to take me?!

Behind Charlottes tough, obsessive facade Nicole said she found something poignant in ThePaperboy.

She also tried to stay in character and keep her Southern accent for the month she filmed in New Orleans.

However, on weekends, when I got on a plane home t! o my chil! dren in Nashville, I went home as Mum.

Ceasar's sisters

Julius Caesar was there; so was Mark Antony and so, too, was that rabble rouser Cassius.

A dish fit for the gods? Well, most of the troupe of Phyllida Lloyds all-female version of Shakespeares political tragedy Julius Caesar were sitting with me at a table at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards, and Im not sure how theyd feel about being called dishy, even though the line is a quote from the play.

All girls: Harriet Walter and Frances Barber in rehearsals for Julius Caesar at Donmar Warehouse

Frances Barber, who plays the title role, explained that the production is set in a prison and the women decide to put on a production of Julius Caesar. And we dont wear make-up, she added.

Ms Barber (pictured with Harriet Walter) arrived at the ceremony with Jenny Jules (Cassius), Cush Jumbo (Mark Antony) and Clare Dunne (Portia). Ms Walter (Brutus) was having a quiet night in.

The play, with music by Gary Yershon, begins previews tonight at the Donmar Warehouse.

Were Caesars sisters, Ms Jules declared.

Gary on Damian Lewis

Damian Lewis told me he was proud of his neat little moustache but couldnt make up his mind whether he looked more like a Seventies porn star or a World War I ace pilot.

We were chatting at the Burberry sponsored London Evening Standard Theatre Awards at the Savoy and felt that the porn star option didnt quite chime with the surroundings.

I think looking like Biggles sounds better, he joked.

The award-winning actor presented Hattie Morahan with th! e best ac! tress trophy for her performance in the Young Vics production of A DollsHouse.

Other prizes went to Nicholas Hytner and Simon Russell Beale for work at the National Theatre.

Lolita Chakrabarti was named most promising playwright for Red Velvet, in which Adrian Lester gave a spellbinding portrayal of 19th-century thespian Ira Aldridge.

Evgeny Lebedev, the Standards owner, bestowed Moscow Art Theatres Golden Seagull Award on Judi Dench. Nick Paynes Constellations, now at the Duke of Yorks Theatre, won best play.

Lewis stars opposite Claire Danes in the second series of espionage drama Homeland, a must-see on Sunday night on C4.

I asked if hell return for a third series. With the death count the way its going, I wouldnt be too sure, he said.

Roger Allam will return to Shakespeares Globe next year as Prospero in a production of The Tempest. Meanwhile, he has been filming the first series of Endeavour, the ITV-Mammoth Screen drama about young detective Endeavour Morse (played by Shaun Evans). Allam plays his boss Detective Inspector Fred Thursday.

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