Turning 16 is a coming-of-age event for most young adults, but for a teenage Nicole Kidman it was the realisation of two life ambitions – both entwined. The first was to star in a movie, which she did in 1983’s Bush Christmas, a holiday favourite in her native Australia. The subsequent paycheque from playing the part of Helen, she was able to put towards her second dream – travel.
“When I was 16 I decided that was going to be part of my life…to see the world,” Nicole said at a press conference in Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace on Saturday. She is the new face of Etihad Airway’s rebranding campaign. “It’s a very Australian thing. We’re a long way from many places, so as a child you dream of going places. Unless your family has money you can’t really go, so we didn’t really travel that much.”
Nicole described her first overseas experience as an eye-opener.
“Suddenly when I was 16-years old I was told ‘okay, go.’ The first place I went was Italy. I fell madly in love with the country…and a man! That’s where I got the bug. I have travelled ever since.”
Since the relatively humble beginnings of Bush Christmas, Nicole has of course blossomed into one of the world’s most respected actresses. Her films have grossed over $3billion and in 2002 she picked up an Academy Award for playing author Virginia Woolf in The Hours, not to mention the countless nominations for other favourites including Moulin Rouge, The Others and Cold Mountain.
On whether she would be open to shooting a film in the UAE, Nicole had surprisingly already given it some thought.
“Obviously Fast & Furious, some of it, was shot here and you have a lot of movies in this part of the world,” she said. “I love the desert. The Liwa Desert would be a wonderful place to shoot a film. I did a film recently that was in the desert and I have such an affinity for it.”
Despite the porcelain skin, slender frame and delicate features, Nicole’s love for the outdoors shone through during the meeting. Perhaps it was her robust Aussie sturdiness coming through, or more likely the setting, but she made sure to highlight how much travelling and adventure meant to her.
“I brought my family to Abu Dhabi last time we came here and the beaches are amazing. There is a lot to do.
“I’m one of those people that wants to get out and see the place. I do not sit in my hotel room. I’m like, ‘where can we go, what can we do?” I went to the mosque, I’ve been to the beaches – there’s so many more things I want to do.
“I’m so international… I’m a traveller. I’m curious about the world.
“Thankfully I have married somebody who has got that bug too. I’m still one of those people that gets on a plane and am grateful I can fly places. That’s one thing Keith [Urban, husband] and I always say to each other when we are sitting on a plane, ‘It’s amazing.’ What used to take a year, or you just couldn’t get there, now you snap your fingers and 10 hours later, you’re there. It’s an extraordinary thing that is given to our generation. I finished a movie yesterday and here I am in Abu Dhabi today. That’s a miracle.”
Nicole said she had thought of taking her private pilot’s licence because of her love of flying, but has not yet found the time.
With a minimum six-month run play in London coming up, being a full-time mum and likely film projects, she also stated that she is very “particular” about the brands she endorses as a result of time constraints, citing they had to be extraordinary such as her time on Baz Luhrmann’s Chanel No. 5 commercials and this Etihad tie-up.
Flying back to her home and family in Nashville on Sunday, Mother’s Day in the UK, and knowing how hands-on she is with her two young daughters, it was put to Nicole whether she would make use of the airline’s nanny service.
“I’ve not used the flying nannies. I am my child’s nanny. We do fly as a family a lot. My kids have been flying since they were six-weeks old. My family still lives in Australia and my sister lives in Singapore. For us to all get together we have to travel a lot.
“I’ve only had a couple of trips where people have complained because my baby’s been crying. I’m one of those people that when I am on a flight and a baby is crying I go, “can I help you?” because I know what it’s like.”
