Nicole Kidman’s Performance in Babygirl Could Ignite Oscar Buzz
Nicole Kidman is making waves with her performance as a tech CEO who embarks on a relationship with a young intern (Harris Dickinson) in Babygirl, a provocative film delving into themes of desire and power dynamics within a consensual affair. This role could potentially secure her second Academy Award for Best Actress, following her win in 2003 for portraying Virginia Woolf in The Hours.
If Kidman wins, it will mark a 22-year gap since her first Oscar—a brief span compared to the 34 and 29 years between Katharine Hepburn’s and Meryl Streep’s first and second lead Oscars, respectively.
A nomination for Babygirl would also be Kidman’s sixth nomination overall, placing her among the 39 individuals in Oscar history who have received six or more nominations. Notably, this group includes Streep, who starred with Kidman in The Hours and Big Little Lies. However, it does not include Julianne Moore, Kidman’s fellow The Hours co-star, who is one nomination short of reaching that milestone.
Kidman’s most recent major award came in 2017 when she won an Emmy for her role as a wealthy domestic violence survivor in Big Little Lies. In 1995, she received a Golden Globe and a BAFTA nomination for her portrayal of an ambitious TV weather person in To Die For, a dark comedy that shared some thematic elements with Babygirl.
A nomination for Babygirl could be seen as a kind of artistic redemption, a reimagining of Kidman’s iconic Oscar snub for To Die For, making her potential Oscar race in 2024 a particularly compelling one.
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