Nicole Kidman has revealed she had to lie about her height to secure auditions early in her career. The statuesque Oscar-winning actor told the Radio Times she took half an inch off her height to secure auditions.
Kidman — who stands at 1.8 metres (5ft 11in) — said she pretended to be 5ft 10 and a half to get work.
"I was told, 'You won't have a career. You're too tall'," she said.
"I was teased. I was called 'Stalky'. People would say, 'How's the air up there?' Now, I get, 'You're so much taller than I thought', or men grappling with how high my heels should be.
"Whenever I go on the red carpet, I get sent shoes that are always so high. I'm like, 'Do they have a kitten heel? I'm going to be the tallest person — a giraffe!'"
The actor continued: "It will bother me when I'm acting and I want to be small — but then there are times when I appreciate it and I can use it in my work," she said.
"Hey, I'm incredibly grateful to be healthy and walking around. With that said, I've had knee issues and all sorts of things, partly because of my height."
'Inner resilience'
Kidman recalled a failed audition for a part in the musical Annie when she was a child.
"I remember auditioning for Annie. It was a big call-out with hundreds of people. I didn't have an agent, I just turned up. My mum was like: 'Oh, please, do we have to? How long is this going to take?'
"I had to talk my way through the door because they were measuring you before you went in. I was mortified, I was over the mark. I think you had to be 5ft 2in and I was maybe 5ft 4in, and I was like, 'Please', and they did let me in," Kidman shared.
"I didn't get the part," she said. "I didn't even get a call back but at least I got to sing four lines of a chorus."
Kidman said she told her teenage daughters — Sunday and Faith, with husband Keith Urban, as well as daughter Isabella, 31, with ex Tom Cruise — that any insecurities they may have were not important.
"What matters is how you allow other people to either say 'yes' or 'no' to you, and whether you accept that," she said.
"Inner resilience as a human being, that's the superpower really."
Post a Comment