Since her break-up from hubby Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman has moved from beneath his shadow and stepped into the light of superstardom.
Following her breakthrough performance in Antipodean suspense flick "Dead Calm", the lithe, red-headed, 34-year-old Australian has become one of cinema's most talented performers. She is an actor not afraid to take risks, whether it's as a psychotic weathergirl in "To Die For" (for which she received a Golden Globe), or a singing and dancing courtesan in "Moulin Rouge".
It began in Honolulu, where Nicole was born to a biochemist father and nurse mother, although they returned to Australia while she was still a baby. She soon started taking dance classes, which led to acting, starring in homegrown flicks "BMX Bandits" and "Bangkok Hilton".
But it was "Dead Calm" that alerted Hollywood to the freckly, curly-haired toughie, and she was hand-picked by Cruise to star as his love interest in "Days of Thunder".
They, of course, fell in love and proceded to face years of tabloid scrutiny over the validity of their union. But amongst the gossip, Kidman began to build a respectable body of work, while never garnering a big, commercial hit. Generally playing gutsy women, she also gave audiences glimpses of a raw sexuality, such as her calculating turn in "Malice", opposite Alec Baldwin.
This was strengthened by her much-trumpeted performance on the London stage in "The Blue Room" and in Kubrick's saucy "Eyes Wide Shut". And rather than objectify her, it further proved her eclectic taste and innate skill.
Now, the stylish, single leading lady is a far cry from that Aussie na茂f. With her startling performance in "Moulin Rouge" likely to tickle the Oscar voters next year and sleeper hit "The Others" raking it in at the U.S. box office, Nicole Kidman has never been so optimisic.
