‘Babygirl’ Director Halina Reijn: Watching Nicole Kidman Act Is Like Witnessing an ‘Exorcism’
Nicole Kidman transcended the physical realm for her critically acclaimed turn in “Babygirl,” according to writer/director Halina Reijn.
Kidman, who also produces the feature, stars as a CEO who begins a psychosexual relationship with an intern (Harris Dickinson). Reijn told GQ UK that Kidman’s performance changed her mind, body, and soul.
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“Seeing her act for me is like an exorcism,” Reijn said. “She goes beyond ego, beyond sanity and beyond fear… It’s not that she’s not afraid, you know, she’s super afraid, but she still goes there.”
Kidman added that she didn’t want to hold anything back when literally baring herself naked onscreen.
“I’m in the whole film [in ‘Babygirl’],” Kidman said. “There are so many close-ups. It’s a full stripping of me.”
She continued, “You can absolutely tell when people are phoning something in. For me, that doesn’t work. I’m not moved by that.”
The Oscar winner added that she has a physical reaction to having that sort of dedication to her work.
“I get sick or I get disturbed,” Kidman said. “It penetrates my dreams, I don’t sleep well, I shake, I have all sorts of different physical manifestations from it. I’m willing to go to whatever place to make it real and deep, and certain things just click and it’s cellular.”
Kidman explained that while “Babygirl” has been billed as a jaw-dropping erotic thriller, the feature is more relatable than that. Kidman has built her career on taking similar acting risks, too.
“I don’t see them as daring, that’s the problem,” Kidman said of her filmography. “Not when I read them. I just see them as like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to make this.’ It happened with ‘Birth.’ The same with [‘Babygirl’], and ‘Eyes Wide Shut.’ All of them. ‘Dogville.’”
And that “daring” label is also in part what is stunting the indie film landscape, according to the star.
“It’s why there’s so few good films,” Kidman said. “You don’t read ’em. They’re not financed, or they’re not found; they sit on shelves or on people’s computers; they don’t make their way into the world.”
She added that “Babygirl” was a return to form for her as well.
“I haven’t been the lead of a gritty indie film [in a while], that’s true,” Kidman said. “I haven’t done a ‘Birth’ for a long time.”
“Babygirl” premieres in theaters December 25.
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