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— by Carl Davis
With the dual release this week of "Birth" on DVD and "The Interpreter" in theaters, now seems an ideal time to take a long glance back at the enormously varied career of Nicole Kidman and her journey from unknown Aussie actress to Hollywood superstar. While her rise to fame was undoubtedly due, in part, to her brief power coupling with the equally fab Tom Cruise, Kidman confounded critics by becoming an even bigger success on her own after the couple's sudden split in 2001. Having worked with some of the industry's most lauded (and loathed) directors, and excelling in comedies, psychological thrillers and even a retro-surreal musical, she's proven that the Oscar on her mantle isn't a fluke. Below are some defining roles in her unique — and still young — career.
 "Dogville" (2003)
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Denmark's mad-genius director, Lars von Trier, began his latest trilogy with this film, set in Depression-era America. Grace (Kidman), on the lam from a group of mobsters, seeks refuge in a small mining town and is forced to make a deal with the locals: she'll work for them as long as they keep her safe. But, as is often the case in von Trier's movies, things are far from as they seem. Like a performance of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" staged in hell, Grace's rescuers quickly become her captors, and when her past finally catches up to her, it's almost a relief.
"The Hours" (2002)
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"The Hours" tells the story of three women separated by time but united through literature. It also earned Kidman an Oscar for her portrayal (prosthetic nose and all) of the author Virginia Woolf, encompassing the depression and suicidal tendencies that plagued Woolf throughout her life. With outstanding performances by Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep, this one will fit it in nicely alongside "Beaches" and "Steel Magnolias" in your chick-flick collection.
"The Others" (2001)
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While ex-hubby Cruise floundered in "Vanilla Sky," a remake of Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar's "Open Your Eyes," Kidman shone in Amenábar's English-language debut. She plays a woman caring for her two children and their unique ailment (allergic to sunlight) in a gloomy mansion, as she awaits her soldier-husband's return from World War II. When three mysterious servants move in — seeming to care more for the house than its inhabitants — and the children begin to see ghosts, Kidman's carefully constructed world begins to slowly shatter.
"Moulin Rouge!" (2001)
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Ewan McGregor stars as Christian, a young playwright who finds love and inspiration in the underworld of Paris — specifically, at the notorious dance hall Moulin Rouge — in Baz Luhrmann's manic mix of rock opera, period piece and Art Nouveau. The doomed object of his affection, Satine (Kidman, who earned an Oscar nomination), is a high-class courtesan (translation: hooker) who quickly becomes his muse as well as the star of his upcoming play. Conversing in lyrical fragments and full-blown songs, Kidman and McGregor are perfectly paired as the star-crossed lovers.
"Eyes Wide Shut" (1999)
The third and final on-screen pairing of Kidman and Cruise, as well as the final film by the legendary Stanley Kubrick, "Eyes Wide Shut" took the most glamorous celebrity couple in Hollywood and put them through an emotional meat grinder. Confronted by his wife's (Kidman) strong feelings for a stranger met at a party, Dr. William Harford (Cruise) sets out on a journey through the highs and lows of sexual decadence in a dreamlike replica of New York City. Mired in controversy from the start due to its 400-day shoot, censoring by the studio and cryptic "message," this is a daring film from one of cinema's greatest directors.
"Portrait of a Lady" (1996)
Kidman tries to make amends for her unintentionally hilarious turn in the forgettable "Batman Forever" with this dark period piece by director Jane Campion, who follows up her art-house hit "The Piano" with yet another tale of an independent 19th-century woman. As an American sent abroad after her parents' death, Kidman hones her acting chops against the devilish duo of John Malkovich and Barbara Hershey. When she comes into a vast sum of money, setting her free from the rigid constraints of polite society, Hershey's malevolent matchmaker introduces her to the gold-digging Malkovich, who proceeds to ruin her life.
"To Die For" (1995)
While based on the true story of Pamela Smart, who in 1990 seduced her 15-year-old lover into killing her husband, it's Buck Henry's acidic script, Gus Van Sant's left-of-center direction and Kidman's performance as a malicious muse that make this a classic. Kidman plays shallow, conniving Suzanne, a New Hampshire hausfrau who imagines herself pretty and articulate enough to become a TV anchorwoman, if only her husband (Matt Dillon) wasn't holding her back. After landing a job as the local weathergirl, Suzanne begins work on a documentary on troubled teens. When she realizes one of the teens, Jimmy (Joaquin Phoenix), has a crush on her, she manipulates him into killing her husband, freeing her to become famous, after all.
"Days of Thunder" (1990)
Sure, it's "Top Gun" in race cars, but it's also a pure guilty pleasure, and the film where Tom Cruise and the future Mrs. Cruise first met. In addition to featuring Kidman as a beautiful and brainy neurologist, producers Simpson and Bruckheimer carry over as many roars, rumbles and hetero-male-bonding moments from their ode to fighter-jet jockeys as they possibly can.
"Dead Calm" (1989)
Suntan lotion? Check. Swimsuit? Check. Spear gun? Check. American audiences were first treated to the sight of Nicole Kidman on these shores in this taut Australian thriller, which finds the young Kidman and her considerably older husband (Sam Neill) on a yachting trip to recover from the car crash that killed their son. The two pick up a slimy weirdo (played weirdly and slimily by Billy Zane) who claims to be the sole survivor of a boating mishap. (Hint: He's lying.) Zane eventually hijacks the couple's yacht with Kidman aboard and Neill stuck alone on another, sinking ship, sparking a grueling, claustrophobic cat-and-mouse game on the high seas.
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Photos: Columbia Pictures
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