In 2001 Nicole Kidman sang her way to a Golden Globe win and an Oscar nomination for "Moulin Rouge!" It was, at the time, the most critically lauded performance of her career. Strangely enough, though, the offers to star in more big-screen musicals didn't pour in.
"I think because once you've done one, people are like, 'OK, we want to find somebody else to do the next one, ' " Kidman told MTV News.
In any case, the actress didn't exactly need to repeat the same old song and dance, as she went on to win an Oscar the next year for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in "The Hours." And when she did decide to return to musical territory, as she has in "Nine," she did so simply because she was itching to work with the other talents involved in the project, including director Rob Marshall and co-star Daniel Day-Lewis.
"I wanted to work with Rob so much, and I've always wanted to work with Daniel," she explained. "It was actually a lovely surprise. I remember my agent calling me, saying that Rob wanted to sit down and discuss one of the roles. I was like, 'Yes, please!' "
In fact, Marshall wanted to chat about the role because screenwriter Anthony Minghella felt that only she could take on the part of Claudia Jenssen, a Swedish film star.
"[He] apparently wrote the role for me," she said.
Minghella died in March 2008 at the age of 54. But Kidman said the cast and crew kept his spirit alive as they moved into production on "Nine."
As with "Moulin Rouge!" before it, "Nine" is now garnering awards-season buzz, reeling in five Globe nominations earlier this month. Will Kidman dive back into a movie musical soon? Could she ever see herself taking the stage for an actual theatrical production.? Not likely.
"I was recently offered a musical, but I have so much fear," she confessed. "I know you shouldn't not do things because of fear, but I'm still working through that!"
Check out everything we've got on href="http://www.mtv.com/movies/movie/343623/moviemain.jhtml">"Nine."
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