“I’ve made a lot of films in my life that are very complicated and have different meanings. Some of them are very dark. This is a film that embraces the goodness of people, and I love being part of that for a change,” reveals Nicole Kidman about her latest film “Lion.” In our interview (watch above), she also discusses the reactions of audiences: “It’s authentic. I think they feel the truth of it. It’s a true story, but the way Garth has shot it and put his heart and soul into it, I think that’s resonating.”
Photo Gallery: Top 10 Nicole Kidman movie roles
The film directed by Garth Davis is based on the real-life story of Saroo Brierley, a five-year-old boy in India who got lost from his family. After a few months, he was then adopted by an Australian couple (Kidman, David Wenham). Many years later he searched for his original family by using Google Earth. Sunny Pawar plays Saroo as a boy, and Dev Patel portrays him as an adult. For this awards season, Kidman has already received nominations at the Critics’ Choice Awards (losing out to Viola Davis from “Fences”) and the Golden Globes (with that outcome being announced on January 8).
On working with Patel and playing his adopted mother, she says, “I was maternal to him. I was pretty much in character playing the role… I really just related to him as a mother. I would go up to him and stroke his hair and touch his face and hold his hand. He gave permission for that, which was terrific… I also think now you’ll see Dev as a leading man, not as an Indian man or anything other than a leading man. I look forward to his journey into all of that now.”
Related: Watch our interview with Dev Patel (‘Lion’)
Kidman won the Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA for her leading role in the 2002 film “The Hours.” She has had two other Oscar nominations for “Moulin Rouge” (2001) and “Rabbit Hole” (2010). In addition to “The Hours,” she also won Golden Globes for “To Die For” (1995) and “Moulin Rouge” among 10 previous career nominations. She has had seven SAG nominations for “Moulin Rouge” (ensemble), “The Hours” (ensemble and lead), “Nine” (2009, ensemble), “Rabbit Hole” (lead), “The Paperboy” (supporting, 2012), “Hemingway and Gelhorn (TV lead, 2012), and “Grace of Monaco” (2015 lead) but no wins yet.
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