Nicole Kidman Jokes About the True Reason She Did 1995's “Batman Forever”: 'Because I Get to Kiss Batman!'
"A lot of the mainstream big blockbusters that I do are hopefully different," the actress said
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From Left: Nicole Kidman in June 2024; and Val Kilmer in Batman Forever (1995)Nicole Kidman has no barriers when it comes to genre.
The actress, who next appears in the upcoming A24 film Babygirl, recalled during a September 2024 cover interview for L'Officiel USA that people questioned her motives about one particular project she signed on for 30 years ago: Batman Forever.
"Everyone's like, ’Why are you doing that?’ I'm like, ‘Because I get to kiss Batman!’ " said Kidman, 57, of the Caped Crusader, played by Val Kilmer in the 1995 Joel Schumacher-directed superhero film.
The Academy Award winner then added, "The thing people don't understand is, it's not about the check. A lot of the mainstream big blockbusters that I do are hopefully different."
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From Left: Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman in Batman Forever (1995)Related: Val Kilmer on Why He Only Made One Batman Movie: 'It's So Easy to Have Five or Six Batmans'
Kidman's filmography has certainly run the gamut of genres, from drama to comedy, fantasy to romance as well as superhero, including in last year's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
One category the actress hasn't dabbled in yet, but seems to be open to is "hardcore horror," she said, revealing she is a fan of that genre, especially the 2022 Australian supernatural flick Talk to Me.
"I’ve not done classic horror yet. Hardcore horror. I’m putting it out there, because I watch hardcore horror. I’m a fan of Ti West!” she told L'Officiel USA, referring to the director of the Mia Goth X trilogy.
Kidman, though, has appeared in thrillers like 2001's The Others and 2013's Stoker, the latter of which she called "a deep cut" that "no one ever mentions."
"[Director] Park Chan-wook, I love him. That monologue — that was the reason I did it," she added.
While speaking about her new movie, Babygirl, with Vanity Fair ahead of its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it will compete for the Golden Lion, Kidman explained how her role in the erotic thriller "left me 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 told the outlet. "[Director Halina Reijn] would hold me and I would hold her, because it was just very confronting to me."
Kidman stars with and In Babygirl, she portrays a business executive who starts an affair with an intern (Harris Dickinson) at her company. Antonio Banderas plays the husband of Kidman's character.
“I felt very exposed as an actor, as a woman, as a human being,” Kidman said. “I had to go in and go out like, I need to put my protection back on. 'What have I just done? Where did I go? What did I do?' ”
Babygirl premieres Friday, Aug. 30 at the Venice Film Festival, and is in theaters starting Dec. 25.
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