Yahoo Lifestyle Nicole Kidman: ‘I’ve Always Said I Want to Work With Martin Scorsese, if He Does a Film With Women’
Nicole Kidman went viral earlier this year when she was awarded the AFI Life Achievement prize and used her acceptance speech to list every director she’s worked with in her career. It was a remarkable roster of talent, from Stanley Kubrick to Jane Campion, Gus Van Sant, Yorgos Lanthimos, Sofia Coppola and more. But Kidman recently told Vanity Fair that her wish list of directors to work with remains quite long.
“I’ve always said I want to work with [Martin] Scorsese, if he does a film with women,” Kidman said. “I’d love to work with Kathryn Bigelow. I’d love to work with Spike Jones. I’d love to work with PTA [Paul Thomas Anderson]. I’ve always wanted to work with Michael Haneke. And there’s a whole slew of new up-and-coming directors — there’s so many, and I’m always open to the discovery of new people.”
More from Variety
'Weeds' Alum Hunter Parrish Joins Nicole Kidman in Amazon's Mystery Thriller 'Scarpetta' (EXCLUSIVE)
“And I find it really exciting when you go, ‘Here’s someone that’s so experienced and has been working and working, but they’ve now really hit their stride,'” Kidman added. “I worked with Karyn Kusama on ‘Destroyer,’ and she’s gone on to ‘Yellowjackets’ and so many big things now. She was at a point where she was frustrated and not getting the things made that she wanted and wasn’t having the opportunities.”
While Scorsese’s movies are usually dominated by male lead characters, he has directed female-fronted efforts in the past such as the 1974 drama “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.” That film was led by Ellen Burstyn, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. Scorsese’s most recent directorial effort, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” had a sizable role for Lily Gladstone alongside male co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. Gladstone won a Golden Globe for her performance and was nominated at the Oscars for best actor.
It appears Kidman might be looking for a more female-heavy cast when it comes to working with Scorsese, who has been criticized in the past for his female characters. Controversy surrounded the release of “The Irishman” due to Anna Paquin’s role being nearly silent. She had only one line of dialogue in the three-and-a-half-hour movie, but it was a deliberate choice on Scorsese’s part.
“I insisted on going back and layering in Peggy more to be an observer,” Scorsese told Sight & Sound magazine at the time. “Not an observer, but she’s part of the group, part of the story. She knows Frank. She doesn’t have to say a word. When she’s looking at him and he’s sitting eating his cereal, listening to the report [about the death of Joey Gallo] — ‘A lone gunman walked in.’ The look on his face — it’s him, obviously.”
Scorsese continued, “Anna Paquin who’s terrific in the film, she only has one line of dialogue. But that one daughter knows, she knows everything, just with looks — and that’s the one [Frank] wants to be with, that’s the one he wants to love him, but she refuses to speak to him after learning of his crimes.”
Head over to Vanity Fair’s website to read Kidman’s latest interview in its entirety.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
