Nicole Kidman is opening up about the insecurities she faces with her height.
“I was teased. I was called ‘Stalky.’ They’d always be like, ‘How’s the air up there?’” Kidman, 56, recalled on the “Radio Times” podcast on Tuesday, January 16. “‘You’re so much taller than I thought,’ is what I get. And then sort of grappling with how high my heels should be. Whenever you go on the red carpet, they send the shoes and the shoes are always so high. And I’m like, ‘Do they have a kitten heel? No.’”
She added, “I’m just, like, going to be the tallest person, the giraffe.”
Kidman, who admitted that she will say she’s 5 ft 10 ½ in when she’s really 5 ft 11 in, shared that her height will “bother” her when she’s acting and wants “to be small.” But she also simultaneously can have times when she can “appreciate” her height and “use this” in her work when it’s “related” to what she’s doing.
“Hey, I’m incredibly grateful to be healthy and walking around. I mean with that said, I’ve had knee issues and all sorts of things, partly because of my height,” Kidman explained.
As for whether the Bombshell actress had been told that her height would impact her success within the industry, she replied, “Yes. I was told, ‘You won’t have a career. You’re too tall.’”
She recalled auditioning for the musical Annie when she was younger. She had to be measured before she was allowed in the room and was “mortified” because she was 5 ft 4 in at the time, which was two inches above the 5 ft 2 in cut off.
While they let her audition, the Big Little Lies star said, “I didn’t get in. I didn’t even get a call back — but at least I got to sing four lines of a chorus.”
Kidman said that she will tell her daughters that “none of it matters.” She shares daughters Sunday Rose, 15, and Faith, 13, with husband Keith Urban, as well as daughter Isabella, 31, with ex Tom Cruise.
“What does matter is how you allow other people to either say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to you, and whether you accept that,” she said. “That inner resilience as a human being, that’s the superpower, really. Above all superpowers.”
Kidman has had a very successful career that has spanned four decades landing roles in films and TV series. She’s earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, six Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award.
