Nicole Kidman gets boost to Oscar hopes

Nicole Kidman plays against type in The Paperboy. Picture with her are Zac Efron and Matthew McConaughey. Picture: Lionsgate Source: Supplied

Peter Mitchell, The Daily Telegraph, reports

Nicole Kidman's Oscar campaign has received a major boost after scoring a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

Kidman was nominated for her sexed-up performance in The Paperboy but also for her role as war correspondent Martha Gelhorn in TV movie Hemingway & Gellhorn.

She will have plenty of mates at the January 27 SAG ceremony, with Naomi Watts and Hugh Jackman also receiving SAG nominations in Los Angeles.

The SAG Awards are one of the major pre-Oscar award ceremonies, with a nomination keeping Oscar campaigns alive, while SAG snubs can torpedo hopes.

Russell Crowe (Les Miserables), Toni Collette (Hitchcock) and Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook) were snubbed by SAG voters.

Jackman, for his leading performance in Les Miserables, is one of the frontrunners for the best acting Oscar and his SAG best actor nomination continues his journey to a possible Academy Award statuette.

Watts, for the tsunami survivor film The Impossible, is also a great shot at an Oscar nomination after winning over SAG voters.

Kidman's nomination for The Paperboy, based on Peter Dexter's book, was one of the big shocks of the SAG nomination ceremony as the Aussie redhead has received little crecognition for the role.

With Kidman also receiving the nod in the TV category for Hemingway & Gellhorn, her Oscar chances have received a major boost.

Kidman, Jackman, Watts, Crowe, Weaver and Collette have another chance to boost their Academy Award hopes on Friday (AEDT) when the Golden Globes nominations are announced - another major pre-Oscar bellwether.

The Oscar nominations will be revealed on January 10 while the Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for February 24.

Along with Les Miserables, The Civil War saga Lincoln and comic drama Silver Linings Playbook boosted their Academy Awards prospects with four nominations apiece for the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

All three films were nominated for overall performance by their casts. Also nominated for best ensemble cast were the Iran hostage-crisis thriller Argo and the British retiree adventure The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, Lincoln also scored individual nominations for Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role as best actor, Sally Field for supporting actress as Mary Todd Lincoln and Tommy Lee Jones for supporting actor as abolitionist firebrand Thaddeus Stevens.

Silver Linings Playbook, made by The Fighter director David O. Russell, also had lead-acting nominations for Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence as lost souls who find a second chance at love and Robert De Niro for supporting actor as a gridiron-obsessed dad.

Besides Watts and Lawrence, best-actress nominees are Jessica Chastain as a CIA analyst pursuing Osama bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty; Marion Cotillard as a woman who finds romance after tragedy in Rust and Bone; Helen Mirren as Alfred Hitchcock's strong-willed wife in Hitchcock.

Joining Cooper, Day-Lewis and Jackman in the best-actor field are John Hawkes as a polio victim aiming to lose his virginity in The Sessions and Denzel Washington as a boozy airline pilot in Flight.

One of the year's most-acclaimed films, Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, earned only one nomination, supporting actor for Philip Seymour Hoffman as a mesmerising cult leader. The film was snubbed on nominations for ensemble, lead actor Joaquin Phoenix and supporting actress Amy Adams.

Other individual performances overlooked by SAG voters include Anthony Hopkins in the title role of Hitchcock, Keira Knightley in the title role of Anna Karenina, Bill Murray as Franklin Roosevelt in Hyde Park on Hudson and Argo director Ben Affleck, who also starred in the film.

Actor Maggie Smith had four individual and ensemble nominations. Along with sharing the ensemble honor for Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Smith joined the cast of Downton Abbey among TV ensemble contenders and had nominations for supporting film actress as a cranky retiree in Marigold Hotel and TV drama actress for Downton Abbey.

Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston had three overall nominations, as best actor in a TV drama for Breaking Bad, an ensemble honour for Breaking Bad and a film ensemble honour for Argo.

Along with Breaking Bad and Downton Abbey, best TV drama ensemble contenders are Boardwalk Empire, Homeland and Mad Men. TV comedy ensemble nominees are 30 Rock, The Big Bang Theory, Glee, Modern Family, Nurse Jackie and The Office.

For whom the belle tolls

More than a muse ... Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen in Hemingway & Gellhorn.

Pamela Feinsilber, The Sydney Morning Herald, reports

It took an epic story of war, writing and romance to lure Nicole Kidman back to the small screen.

Philip Kaufman met Nicole Kidman after the worst month of his life. It was early January 2010 and he had just lost his wife and creative partner, Rose Kaufman, to cancer.

Kidman was in San Francisco to speak at the groundbreaking for a centre dedicated to stopping violence against women and children. ''Someone said to me, 'That's Phil Kaufman over there,''' she recalls. ''I could see the pain in his face, his grief. Because of my relationship with my husband, I couldn't imagine what he was going through after so many years with her. I held his hand and said, 'How are you?' It was one of those meetings with nothing superficial, very immediate and deep.''

''She'd heard about Rose,'' Kaufman says. ''I just remember this long, silent look that we had, very penetrating.'' With others clamouring to speak with the star it was a short conversation, but Kidman managed to tell him, ''I'd love to work with you.''

Kaufman hadn't directed a movie since 2004 but he'd been working on lots of projects, one of them a script centred on the turbulent relationship of Ernest Hemingway and his third wife, the foreign correspondent Martha Gellhorn, who together and separately covered the Spanish Civil War, civil war in China, and Europe during World War II. During much of their time together they lived in Cuba.

''I didn't offer to show Nicole the script,'' Kaufman says. ''It was still sort of a hidden project. But two days later, she called: 'I've read the script and I want to do it. No matter how long it takes, I'm in.'''

It must have been a strange time for Kaufman and his producer son, Peter - losing Rose only a month earlier, living in the fog of grief and loss. Philip Kaufman could hardly focus on the script for Hemingway & Gellhorn, which he'd been revising with his friend Jerry Stahl. But HBO wanted the film, a good start had been made on the screenplay and he had his Gellhorn.

As Kaufman and Stahl started reworking the script, HBO asked for a short film illustrating how Hemingway & Gellhorn would incorporate newly filmed material with archival footage. In Kaufman's basement office, film editor Rob Bonz began compiling filmed segments plus archival scenes from earlier Kaufman movies. Chris Morley, a visual-effects genius, began working with advanced digital techniques to ''nest'' the modern-day actors in the archival footage in ways far superior to those of the past.

Meanwhile, Kaufman and Stahl ramped up the film's romantic element and expanded the settings. ''We took a sharp turn and created what amounted to a completely different script,'' Kaufman says.

At that point, Kaufman sent the script to a close friend, entertainment lawyer Barry Hirsch, ''just to see what he thought''. Hirsch, whose clients include Francis Ford Coppola, Sean Penn and Clive Owen, told Kaufman: ''I think this is something Clive would like.''

''So I got a call from Clive Owen in London,'' Kaufman recalls, ''and he says, 'I just read the script and it's a stormin' script' - he used the word stormin'. Just like Nicole, he wanted in. Now we had to work out the scheduling.''

''It looked a bit like it wasn't gonna happen,'' Owen says, ''because I was committed to another film. It looked like I would miss a great opportunity … Then Phil called and said, 'If we waited, would you give me your word you won't mess me about?'''

Filming began less than a year later, in February 2011. Kaufman lined up several actors he'd worked with in the past, such as David Strathairn, Robert Duvall and Brooke Adams.

To play Joris Ivens, the Dutch filmmaker Hemingway and Gellhorn helped as he shot footage for his famed documentary on the fight against fascism in Spain, Kaufman chose Lars Ulrich of Metallica, who had done a reading with Kaufman years earlier.

''He called out of the blue and offered me the part on the phone,'' Ulrich says. At the time, Kaufman, who loves stumbling on ''the truth in unexpected places,'' was unaware Metallica's second album had a song called For Whom the Bell Tolls, loosely inspired by ''Hemingway's shenanigans'' in the Spanish Civil War, Ulrich says.

The actors all speak of how collaborative the filmmaking was. ''Instead of dictating what he wanted, Phil was always encouraging you to be part of the process,'' Ulrich says.

''I'd jump at the chance to work with him again,'' Kidman says. ''We had many conversations where I opened up, and he opened up. I feel protected and safe with him, which is why I'd do anything for him now.''

As with his other historical films, Kaufman felt the need to be utterly accurate. He was delighted when his costume designer found clothes dating back to the '30s in a Spanish costume house.

''As we're coming to know, the old Hollywood period films just sucked because everybody was in brand-new clothes,'' Kaufman says. ''It was as if people in the past went to the cleaners every week … Our little crew was hungry for authenticity. But anything in the past, little things, can lead you into the present.''

People close to Kaufman have no doubt that the relationship of his protagonists means a great deal to him personally. Some feel Hemingway & Gellhorn may even be a tribute to his relationship with his late wife Rose.

''You bring your experience into whatever you do,'' his son Peter says circumspectly. ''Rose had this Martha Gellhorn-esque spirit of not caring about what convention tells you to do but doing what's in your heart, fighting for the underdog … doing things for the right reasons, and living a creative life.''

San Francisco Chronicle
 

The old man and she who would not obey

Nicole Kidman hasn't worked in TV since the 1989 mini-series, Bangkok Hilton. It took a project like Hemingway & Gellhorn to get her back to the small screen. She talks to Rick Bentley about playing Martha Gellhorn, one of the most significant war correspondents of the 20th century.

How different is it to play a role based on a real person?

It's like doing the homework before the exam. You want to have the well of information. And then it's trying to find her essence. Not to be a caricature, but to find what was her essence, what was the beating heart of her, and try to be true to that rather than the physical; rather than the mannerisms.

What was Hemingway's effect on Gellhorn?

I think Martha found her voice when she was with Hemingway. And he was a big part of helping her to, as he says [in] a line in the film … ''get in the ring and start throwing some punches for what you believe in''. The great thing about Gellhorn was that she was the first female war correspondent and she wrote about people's lives, and she wrote with such direct truth. That's hard to do.

How was she different from Hemingway?

She's not Hemingway. She didn't want to write novels. She wants to be a correspondent. You see, in the film, her on the frontline. You see her hands bloody. She's a sponge, and then she's able to sort of feed that back to America and the world.

Why didn't their marriage last longer?

They couldn't be together because she wouldn't comply. He thought he wanted a woman who was an adventurer and then when he finally gets her and she won't settle down, and she won't be domesticated, he doesn't know what to do with that.

How difficult is it to film a love scene with a building falling down around you?

It's awesome. Phil [Kaufman, the director] was like, ''OK. We're going to have - we want stuff coming down.'' And I think … it really emphasises that they came together through war. They fed off that drama and that energy, in a way. Two people that would make love through a building collapsing, that says something about who they are. And that's why I think that was important, that scene, because you really see that this is where they are their most comfortable, their most passionate, and that's where their love thrives.

Kidman toasts Emmy nod with 'popsicle'

Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen in a scene from the HBO film, Hemingway & Gellhorn, which has earned Kidman an Emmy nomination. Picture: HBO Source: The Sunday Telegraph

News.com.au reports

Nicole Kidman plans to celebrate her Emmy nomination with "popsicles after school".

The Aussie actress was nominated for best actress in a miniseries or movie for Hemingway & Gellhorn, about the tumultuous romance of Ernest Hemingway and journalist Martha Gellhorn.

"I'll toast the Emmy nomination with a chocolate Popsicle. I know it doesn't sound great, but they're amazing," she said.

Fellow Australian Judy Davis received a nod for best supporting actress in a miniseries or movie for Page Eight.

However, it was Mad Men that was the real story of the day, landing a leading 17 bids and the chance to set a new record as the most-honoured drama in television history.

The series, which has won four best drama series trophies and is tied with Hill Street Blues, LA Law and The West Wing, received a fifth nomination in the category.

"It's insane. I can't believe it," said Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner.

Miniseries, American Horror Story, a nightmarish saga about a haunted house, matched Mad Men with 17 nominations, including an acting nod for star Connie Britton.

Other leading nominees include the British soap opera, Downton Abbey, which earned 16 bids, and two miniseries, Hatfields & McCoys, with 16, and Hemingway & Gellhorn with 15.

Modern Family, honoured as best comedy series for the past two years, was the sitcom leader with 14 bids and practically ran the table in supporting actor nods.

The 64th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be hosted by Kimmel and will air live on September 23 from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen heat up the screen in Hemingway & Gellhorn

Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen in a scene from the new HBO TV movie Hemingway & Gellhorn. Picture: HBO / Source: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph reports

Nicole Kidman's turn as Ernest Hemingway's lover Martha Gellhorn is already earning buzz, with stills released this week of her raunchy sex scenes with co-star Clive Owen in the upcoming TV movie Hemingway & Gellhorn.

Coupled with explicit scenes between Kidman and Zac Efron in The Paperboy, it seems we are seeing a lot more of the 44-year-old.

Meanwhile, Kidman is tipped to surface in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, Queensland, next week to film scenes for The Railway Man.

But the always quotable Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale denied it, saying: "Nicole Kidman is not coming to Ipswich. But if she does she will receive a royal welcome."

Why fired-up Nicole Kidman is smoking

Cannes, France – May 24: Actress Nicole Kidman attends the "The Paperboy" photocall during the 65th Annual Cannes Film Festival. stivals on May 24, 2012 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images) Source: The Sunday Telegraph

Megan Lehmann, The Sunday Telegraph, reports

When Nicole Kidman last attended the Cannes Film Festival in 2003, she was so thrilled to be there she jumped up and down on the bed at the exclusive Hotel du Cap where she was staying.

Reminded of that moment of exuberance, she laughs.

"I now jump on it with Keith," she tells Insider. "I don't have to do it alone."

The actress has never been happier - and why shouldn't she be. Her career is riding a huge resurgence thanks to two headline-grabbing movies screening at Cannes - The Paperboy and Hemingway & Gellhorn.

And on the home front, she's pleased Australian television audiences have fallen for her Grammy-winning country superstar husband, Keith Urban, on The Voice."I don't think they realised how great he is," Kidman says.

"He's just such an Aussie boy from Caboolture who's still got that. And talent beyond, I mean you haven't seen anything yet."

Dressed in a monochromatic Mad Men-style Dior dress and looking out from the top floor of Cannes' Majestic Hotel at the sparkling Mediterranean below, the five-time veteran of the French film festival is sitting pretty.

Her show-stopping turn in the swampy Southern noir The Paperboy has garnered some of the best notices of her career. Her character, a cougarlicious bottle-blonde floozy, gets hot and heavy with a convicted murderer and sparks a fire in Zac Efron's small-town boy.

For Hemingway & Gellhorn, she bares all in a couple of toe-curling sex scenes with Clive Owen.

At 44, with two children under five - Sunday Rose, 4, and one-year-old Faith Margaret - Kidman has never looked hotter.

Urban obviously agrees, travelling 35 hours from Sydney to carry his wife's clutch purse on the red carpet at The Paperboy premiere.

"He and I met later in life and I think when you meet later in life as a couple you have a much better chance of really going to a deep place," she muses. "I think when you're younger - and sometimes not, because my parents met when they were 23 - but for us we met later in life and we kind of know who we are and where we're at."

Scorching on screen, Kidman may be - fearless, not so much.

"No, I have a tremendous amount of fear, but I just push through it," she says. "I'll feel terrified but then I'll just go, 'So what's the worst that can happen?' And I try to do that in terms of everything I do, even falling in love. I'm going to love to the fullest that I can because, why not, you know?

And I'm going to love my children that way and I'm going to love my husband that way and maybe there's going to be pain but I'm willing to accept the pain."

Kidman likes to mix it up and says she deliberately offset her "raw and dangerous" performance as an "oversexed Barbie doll" in The Paperboy with a role in Hemingway & Gellhorn. In the TV biopic she plays Martha Gellhorn, a war correspondent who had a combustible relationship with American literary lion Ernest Hemingway and was married to him for five years.

"She had extraordinary spirit and tenacity and compassion, and she wanted to see the atrocities of the world and give voice to the voiceless," Kidman says. "That sort of stuff I just bow to - that's a force. It may not be my force because I have different desires, but I wanted the story to be told."

It's important to her that her daughters are given strong female role models. "I've always tried to step out as a woman to protect other women," she says.

"Only because it is tougher sometimes for women - there is more criticism a lot of times, and the choices that women make are judged more harshly."

Hemingway & Gellhorn airs on Showcase on September 9. The Paperboy is set for release early 2013