Nicole Kidman Says Exploring Kink in S&M ThrillerBabygirlRequired ‘An Enormous Amount of Trust’

Mar. 15, 2025

Nicole Kidman in Los Angeles on Oct. 18, 2024.Photo:Eric Charbonneau/A24 via Getty

Nicole Kidman at A24’s “Babygirl” Los Angeles Special Screening at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills on October 18, 2024

Eric Charbonneau/A24 via Getty

Nicole Kidmanis opening up about making her new erotic thriller.

“Of course there were days where I would go in really terrified of a scene or I don’t know how I’m going to do this,” added Dickinson, who previously starred inThe Iron Claw. But “there was never a day that if the scene wasn’t working or if we weren’t comfortable or we weren’t getting something, we never felt that time was more important. It was just like, ‘Okay, everyone go away for a second.’ "

Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson on Oct. 18, 2024.Eric Charbonneau/A24 via Getty

Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson at A24’s “Babygirl” Los Angeles Special Screening at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills on October 18, 2024

“I’ve always been on a quest as an actor, I’m always going, where have I not been? And what can I explore as a human being? And this was an area I’d never been,” she said.

“There’s a sort of a jump off the cliff thing where you go, okay, I’m just going to abandon everything and explore this with the people that I trust in a genre that is already set, but hopefully we can explore new territory and especially with the female at the helm.”

And, she said, “You have your director at the helm going, ‘I will protect you. Nothing that’s going to be in the film will be anything that you are not comfortable with. You are going to be okay.’ "

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Still, the experience took a toll. Speaking about the filmwithVanity Fairahead of its world premiere at theVenice Film Festivalin August, Kidman explained howthe role “left [her] ragged.”

“At some point I was like, I don’t want to be touched. I don’t want to do this anymore, but at the same time I was compelled to do it,” she said. “Halina would hold me and I would hold her, because it was just very confronting to me.”

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‘Babygirl’ Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson

A24

“That’s what made it so compelling, was being in the hands of Halina, because I knew she wasn’t gonna exploit me,” she told reporters. “I mean, however anyone interprets that, I didn’t feel exploited. I felt very much a part of it. It’s the story that I wanted to be a part of, that I wanted to tell. And every part of me was committed to that.”

source: people.com