Nicole Kidman in Sydney on Dec. 20, 2023.Photo:Don Arnold/WireImage
Don Arnold/WireImage
Nicole Kidmanis speaking out about a time she was told she wouldn’t “have a career” due to her height.
“I was called ‘storky.’ [People would say], ‘How’s the air up there?!’ … [Now I get], ‘You’re so much taller than I thought,' [and then] grappling with how high my heels should be," she went on. “Whenever you go on thered carpet, they send the shoes, and the shoes are alwayssohigh. And I’m like, ‘Do they have a kitten heel? … I’m just gonna be the tallest person — the giraffe!' "
She specifically remembers lying that she was 5 ft. 10½ in. instead of 5 ft. 11 in. — as well as auditioning forAnnieas part of a large open call and worrying that she would be cut early for being too tall.
“I had to talk my way through the door, ‘cause they weremeasuring you before you went in,” said Kidman, 56. “I was mortified.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.
TheAcademy Awardwinner admitted that her height does “bother” her at times, “when I’m acting and I want to be small … [but] there’s times when I appreciate it, when it’s related to what I’m doing [in my work]. I’m like,’ ‘Okay, I can use this now.’ "
And while she is “incredibly grateful to be healthy and walking around,” Kidman said she has “had knee issues and all sorts of things — partly ‘cause of my height!”
Any insecurity she feels is put into perspective, though, when she thinks about her children. (Kidman is mom to sonConnor Cruise, 29, plus daughtersBella Kidman Cruise, 31,Sunday, 15, andFaith, 13.)
“I tell my daughters none of it matters,” said theBig Little Liesstar. “What matters is how you allow other people to either say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to you, and whether you accept that. … That inner resilience, as a human being — that’s the superpower, really.”
Nicole Kidman.Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Back in a November 2020 digital cover interview forGlamour U.K., Kidman discussed the “fears and insecurities” she had over her height as a teenager.
Still, thePromactress played to her strengths and chose an unconventional dress for her own prom.
“I wore a 1920s flapper dress, whichgoes along with my ‘not conforming’sensibility,” she recalled. “I bought it in a vintage store and I just loved the idea of a flapper dress, it was black and white beading — it was definitely not tulle and big skirts.”
“I think I remember getting a little drunk too, which is probably a lot of people’s experiences at their prom or formal,” Kidman joked.
source: people.com
