Nicole Kidman is gearing up for just how viral “Babygirl” will be.
The Oscar-winning actress told The Hollywood Reporter that she is bracing for the memes of the buzzy feature that centers on a CEO (Kidman) starting a BDSM affair with an intern (Harris Dickinson). The erotic thriller has been critically acclaimed since its Venice Film Festival premiere. Writer/director Halina Reijn even described Kidman’s performance as like watching “an exorcism” onscreen. But how will theater-going audiences react?
Kidman, who has been a social media fixture with memes ranging from her alleged post-divorce walk of glory (she has since said the viral image was from a film set) to her 2021 AMC ad campaign, has said that she has no regrets about the meme-ification of her work. And so in turn, Kidman is getting ready for “Babygirl” to follow suit.
When asked by THR if she considers it a compliment to be memed, Kidman said, “Of course. You’ve got to let go and be able to make fun of yourself. It’s very much an Australian trait, but I think it’s a necessary trait for life. I know who I am. I try to stay deeply focused on my authentic self and stay with that. Everything else is beyond my control.”
Kidman added, though, “But let’s wait and see what happens with the [memes from] ‘Babygirl.’ I may be terribly upset the next time you talk to me.”
“Babygirl” has been lauded as a daring film, particularly for its depiction of different kinds of orgasms and fetishes. Kidman said that the “sexuality of it” was the “most dangerous part” of taking on the role.
“It wasn’t written for a 20-year-old. It wasn’t written even for a 30-year-old,” Kidman said.
As for baring it all onscreen, Kidman added, “I blush, still! That’s insane. But that’s a good thing, I suppose. I’m very interested in exploring those things, but I’m not that extroverted. I was so in character. To pull the curtain back on all of it, it’s too sacred. […] That’s probably why we constantly say we need women in all areas of filmmaking, telling different stories. It’s not just to be more fair. It’s actually because it’s kind of fascinating. And for people to feel, ‘I can be who I am.’ I want people to go see this in the cinema, not just clicking on this at home, secretly, watching it in their own little secret way. There’s something extraordinary about seeing it with a group of people.”
One particular scene in which Dickinson’s character dances with a bathrobe-clad Kidman to George Michael’s “Father Figure” is poised as a meme-ready sequence.
“I love that [director Halina Reijn] put me in the bathrobe in that scene, and it’s not a silk bathrobe, it’s a terry,” Kidman said about the moment onscreen. “I was like, ‘Yes, let me sit in this chair and he can dance.’ It’s a twist on ‘9½ Weeks,’ and then it’s also a bit messy. It was confronting for me, which I love. I was like, ‘Golly, OK.’”
And yes, Kidman is well-aware that the term babygirl is now an internet staple as well.
“The word ‘babygirl’ now is used to describe men, right?” Kidman asked. It seems like she’s more than ready for the internet lore around the film.
