Australia’s sweetheart and weird-clapping enthusiast Nicole Kidman took to the SXSW Sydney stage today to chat all things film, production and of course, her production company Blossom Films. Along the way, she also dropped a few hints about what upcoming projects we can expect from her, why she loves working with Aussie Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty and how she pissed in a bush one time. All topics I’m equally interested in.
She was joined by her Blossom Films co-founder and business partner Per Saari and 9News journalist Peter Overton. And it turns out that Pete was an old childhood friend of Nicole’s. Isn’t that sweet?
Before we get into the cool shit our porcelain princess said during the candid conversation, to be totally clear, she only spoke on projects where she acted as a producer and did not touch on her experience as an actor out of respect for the SAG-AFTRA strikes which are still ongoing in the States. A respectful queen.
Blossom Films has certainly made an impact in the streaming world. And two of their most prominent releases – Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers – have been based on the creative works of Liane Moriarty. Both of those shows absolutely slapped. So I am stoked to report that Nicole and Blossom Films are about to start filming their next adaptation of her novel The Last Anniversary.
“Nobody knows about this yet. Last Anniversary starts filming on November 13th,” Nicole revealed.
But the best bit? She confirmed that all of the characters would be using Aussie accents this time around.
“An Australian project with Australian accents for the world,” she said, followed by cheers from the whole theatre.
According to Nicole, there are a couple of reasons why she keeps coming back to Lianne’s novels for her inspiration. One is that the way she writes lends itself to being adapted easily.
“They’re very cinematic, the way she writes characters,” she explained.
“She structures them amazingly and they’re conceptual. They usually have something that allows you to both hook into as an audience and also mine the characters and all of that.”
Also, Nicole says that she just really liked Lianne’s vibe and now they’re really good buds.
“She’s just become a great friend,” she said.
“From when I first had a cup of coffee with her and we started our relationship together. She’s the same age. She’s got kids. She’s gone through similar things at different times. We’re just simpatico.
“Primarily, I just really liked her whether we ever worked together again or not. I will still have her in my life.”
Isn’t that so fkn sweet?
As you’d expect, Nicole and Per had a whole heap of fascinating and incredible things to say throughout the session and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
But finally, what you’ve been waiting for: Nicole Kidman confirming that she’s human and has pissed in a bush before on a low-budget set.
“I have peed in the bush because there was nothing around and we had very little time and we were losing the light,” she admitted.
“So it’s like, go behind the tree. Hey, you got to do it, you’ve got to get the shot.”
Celebrities, they’re just like us.
Don’t forget to check out all the other incredible events on this week at SXSW Sydney HERE.
