Nicole Kidman On Filming Erotic Thriller Babygirl: 'I Didn't Feel Exploited, It Was Very Freeing'

Nicole Kidman is all excited for her new erotic thriller, Babygirl, which she said serves as a “liberating story” for women. She added that the experience of making the film felt very freeing for her. “It’s obviously about sex, it’s about desire, it’s about your inner thoughts, it’s about secrets, it’s about marriage, it’s about truth, power, consent,” Kidman stated while talking about the film’s bold theme during a press conference at the Venice Film Festival recently.

“This is one woman’s story and this is, I hope, a very liberating story. It’s told by a woman, through her gaze – Halina (Reijn) wrote it and she directed it and that’s to me what made it so unique because suddenly I was going to be in the hands of a woman with this material. It was very dear to our shared instincts and very freeing,” she noted.

In Babygirl, a much-awaited A24 film, Kidman plays the role of a high-powered CEO who jeopardises her career and family for a passionate affair with her younger intern, played by Harris Dickinson. It also has Antonio Banderas, Sophie Wilde and Esther McGregor in key roles.

Nicole Kidman further emphasised that working with a female director, Halina Reijn, known for Bodies Bodies Bodies, was crucial to her feeling safe and respected during the shoot. Still, Kidman confessed to feeling a bit anxious ahead of the film’s premiere at the festival.

“This definitely leaves me exposed and vulnerable and frightened and all of those things when it’s given to the world, but making it with these people here was delicate and intimate. Right now, we’re all a bit nervous. I was like, I hope my hand’s not shaking,” she reportedly explained.

Halina Reijn added her own thoughts on the film, explaining that one of the driving forces behind Babygirl was to highlight what she termed the huge orgasm gap between men and women. She added, “take note men … but not you, Harris,” gesturing to Dickinson. To this, Dickinson humourously replied, “Everyone deserves a good orgasm,” drawing laughter from the crowd, before sheepishly apologising and burying his face in his hands, informs Variety.

Following its Venice debut, Babygirl is set to premiere in North America at the Toronto Film Festival and will be released in theaters on December 25.