Lifestyle

'WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?'

Nicole Kidman, 59, Says This Childhood Comment Still Stings Today

The Emmy winner didn’t always love her unique features.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

PublishedAug 6, 2026, 4:34 PM EDT

UpdatedAug 6, 2026, 5:58 PM EDT

Updated Aug 6, 2026, 5:58 PM EDTPublished Aug 6, 2026, 4:34 PM EDT

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Nicole Kidman, 59, reflected on the backhanded compliment that stuck with her into adulthood.

“I started modeling at 14 and 15, and I started acting at the same time. I wanted to be an actress, but I was using the modeling to make money so that I could fund my acting,” she told Allure.

Despite her blossoming teen modeling career, the feedback she got on her looks was not exclusively positive.

“People used to always say to me, ‘When you grow up, you’re gonna be so pretty,” Kidman recalled.

“I was like, ‘Huh?’” she added.

Those comments made Kidman question her appearance: “I’d look in the mirror, and I’d go, ‘What does that mean? I wanna be pretty now.’”

“But I suppose I was a gawky kind of teenager,” she admitted. “I was all arms and legs, and I didn’t have control over my body, in a way.”

Kidman was already 5-foot-10 in her teens. Now, at 5-foot-11, she is still often taller than her peers.

The six-time Golden Globe-winning actress and producer has previously said that her height sometimes affected her career negatively.

But it has not held her back in her relationships: Kidman has proudly dated men who are shorter than her.

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Kidman’s first husband, actor Tom Cruise, was 5-foot-7.

Her second husband, singer Keith Urban—whom she divorced in September 2025 after 19 years of marriage—was 5-foot-10.

Looking back, the Moulin Rouge! actress could understand the comments about her appearance.

“I understand what they were saying, in a way,” Kidman said. “But I feel pretty now.”

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Age has given her a new perspective and acceptance, too.

“I’m grateful to have what I have and to be able to use it,” she said. “I also think because of my coloring and the way in which my face is structured, I can morph and change so easily because I don’t really have any dominant features.”

Kidman, who often dons wigs for movie roles, said that another feature that stood her apart as a teenager was her curly, red hair.

In 2022, Kidman told BBC Radio about how her feelings of not belonging led her to pursue acting.

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“I was very tall and very pale. I had red, curly hair and I was covered in freckles,” Kidman said. “I think my sense of belonging, in terms of belonging to the cool kids, wasn’t there.”

But Kidman discovered that she could act: “That became the place that I felt comfortable.”

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Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

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