As if it needs to be said, Nicole Kidman is among the most eminent actors of our generation. Over the past few decades, the Oscar-winning star has portrayed a wide range of roles, slipping into character (and out of her comfort zone) with palpable charisma and versatility on-screen. In many instances, Kidman has physically transformed in radical fashion. Whether shapeshifting into a different kind of breathtaking beauty or rendering herself unrecognizable, for Kidman, no detail is ever too inconsequential in the spirit of storytelling. Here, a look back at her biggest beauty transformations through the years.
Moulin Rouge!, 2001
In Baz Luhrmann’s bombastic musical, Kidman plays Satine, a Moulin Rouge dancer (based on the French can-can dancer Jane Avril) with sideswept, deep dark crimson waves and a red lip to match.
The Hours, 2002
For The Hours, Kidman spent three hours a day transforming into English author Virginia Woolf, most notably wearing a prosthetic nose that became a topic of award season fodder that year.
Birth, 2004
In Birth, director Jonathan Glazer imagined Kidman’s Anna as “somebody who had sort of let all glamour go.” Physically, this translated to Kidman trading in her signature tumble of red waves for a brunette pixie cut.
The Paperboy, 2012
In crime-drama The Paperboy, Kidman starred alongside Zac Efron as the ultimate bottle blonde with teased layers, stacks of lashes, and frosty pink lips.
Paddington, 2014
To become the children’s film’s resident villain, museum director Millicent Clyde, Kidman wore an all-business blunt blonde bob with not a single hair out of place.
Top of the Lake, 2017
In the second season of the BBC drama directed by Jane Campion, Kidman came on as Julia Edwards, conveying “a beautiful, strong, feminist mother who is also vulnerable,” said makeup artist Noriko Watanabe of the transformation, which included a silver mane and prosthetic teeth.
How to Talk to Girls at Parties, 2017
The sci-fi romantic comedy finds Kidman playing Queen Boadicea, a character that looks nothing short of David Bowie’s Goblin King in Labyrinth with a spiky mullet, paled-out complexion, and bold strokes of winged eyeliner.
Boy Erased, 2018
For her role as a small-town Southern mother, Nicole Kidman wore a teased-to-the-heavens fringed blonde wig that was immediately the talk of the Internet when the trailer dropped.
Destroyer, 2018
In Karyn Kusama’s neo-noir crime drama Destroyer, one of Kidman’s most jaw-dropping transformations found her wearing a lived-in, salt-and-pepper crop with a grungy, time-worn complexion meant to depict “a real woman who's had a hard life,” said makeup artist Bill Corso.
Being the Ricardos, 2021
To portray Lucille Ball in “Being the Ricardos,” Kidman dyed her hair red to match Ball’s famed crimson. She also wore fine-tuned facial prosthetics that helped her achieve a new nose and thinner, higher-slung brows.
The Northman, 2022
In The Northman, an epic based on the legend of Amleth, Kidman played Queen Gudrún. She embodied Viking beauty with a flushed complexion and cascade of hip-grazing strawberry blonde lengths that were often intricately plaited.
