LOS ANGELES — Actress Nicole Kidman said that she felt “exposed and vulnerable and frightened” as her erotic thriller “Babygirl”, directed by Halina Reijn, premiered at the 81st Venice Film Festival.
In “Babygirl”, Kidman plays as a high-powered CEO who puts her career and family on the line when she has an affair with a much younger intern, played by Harris Dickinson.
“This definitely leaves me exposed and vulnerable and frightened, and all of those things when it’s given to the world,” Kidman said of the experience of debuting the film before an audience, reports hollywoodreporter.com.
“But making it with these people here, it was delicate and intimate and very, very deep.”
She said that they all are right now and “we're all a bit nervous”.
“So I’m like, I hope my hands aren’t shaking — but at the same time, I’m really proud to be at a festival like this, and to be forging ahead with films that are still being made, and particularly with women at the helm.”
Kidman added: “I think that’s what made it so compelling, was being in the hands of Halina (as my director), because I knew she wasn’t going to exploit me. I mean, however anyone interprets it, 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.”
In a video shared by the publication on Instagram, Kidman could be heard talking about women in cinema.
“I am still very proud to be invited to a festival like this and to be forging ahead with cinema, with films that are still being made and particularly with women at the helm you know it's part I said it I can't remember how long ago at Cannes at a press conference I went.
“I’m going to put my weight behind a lot of women now in terms of directors and try to change the ratio and this is all part of it… How many women are there in the festival …. We are changing it.”
Kidman talked about how Babygirl offered something new.
“I’ve worked with so many directors, I haven’t worked with a woman on this subject matter,” she said.
“When you’re talking to a woman director and she’s like, ‘OK, let’s work on this orgasm together’ — I’m saying that bluntly, but you’re not going to say that with a guy. [Halina] was always so loving towards all of us, to Antonio, to Harris, to me, to Sophie, all of us. It was just a very warm environment to work in.”
Reijin made her US debut with the Gen Z slasher satire “Bodies Bodies Bodies”.