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18 May 2024 6:02
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  •   Home > News > International

    Nicole Kidman becomes first Australian to win American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award

    The Oscar winner and five-time Academy Award nominee joins previous recipients such as Meryl Streep, Julie Andrews, Al Pacino and George Clooney.


    Nicole Kidman will become the first Australian actor to receive a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute. 

    Dubbed the highest honour in American cinema, the accolade has been won by the likes of Julie Andrews, Al Pacino, Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Meryl Streep Morgan Freeman and many other iconic figures in the industry. 

    The Academy Award winner who grew up in Sydney said on social media she was "deeply moved" to be a recipient. 

    "Thank you to all of you and to the American Film institute for including me in this illustrious group of honorees — now let's have some fun!" she wrote on Instagram. 

    Earlier, she posted a video of her starring in her first film, Bush Christmas, when she was a teenager in 1983. 

    "This 14-year-old girl could never have predicted the talented people she would get to work with and the many different characters she would get to play," she wrote. 

    Streep, Freeman, Reese Witherspoon and Naomi Watts paid tribute to the actress during the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Lose Angeles. 

    "Both a powerhouse performer, spellbinding movie star and accomplished producer, Nicole Kidman has captured the imaginations of audiences throughout her prolific career, delivering complex and versatile performances on-screen," the initial announcement by the AFI read. 

    "She is a force both brave in her choices and bold in each performance. AFI is honoured to present her with the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award."

    Contributions to film

    A five-time Academy Award nominee, Kidman's performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours earned her the Oscar for Best Actress in 2003.

    She has also been in notable films such as her breakout role Dead Calm, Batman Forever, Practical Magic, Moulin Rouge, Australia, Rabbit Hole, Paddington, Lion, and To Die For. 

    In television, she starred in and produced critically acclaimed shows such as Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Undoing, and Hemingway and Gellhorn. 

    Kidman has also enjoyed success in Theatre shows in London's West End. 

    One of Australia's most successful exports in Hollywood, Kidman was honoured back home with The Companion of the Order of Australia in 2006. 

    Nadine Whitney, co-chair of the Australian Film Critics Association, said Kidman's success can be attributed to the risks she takes with roles. 

    "She has been in absolute blockbusters — in fact she's at the point now where she is quite literally playing Queens. But for every Chase Meridian (Batman Forever) or Queen Atlanna (Aquaman) there is her ability to go into small and somewhat dangerous roles," she said.

    "For example playing Diane Arbus in Fur or coming back to Australia to do a tiny film like Strangerland.

    "It is her ability to go against the grain of what people expect from her that makes her a star."

    Ms Whitney said she's encouraged by the celebration of a female Australian actor. 

    "It is a watershed moment for not only women in cinema but also Australian talent recognition," she said.

    "I hope one day we will see career awards for Cate Blanchett too."

    In 2017, the Cannes Film Festival honoured Kidman with the 70th Anniversary Prize for her body of work and longstanding history with the festival — she is one of only eight people to receive this honour.

    The American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 1950 and only 11 women have received it. 

    Who was on the red carpet?

    While Kidman was the star of the show, she wasn't the only big name on the red carpet beforehand. 

    And because it's been too long since awards season and it's still a week until the MET Gala, we couldn't let this event slip without taking a look at the looks. 

    Here's a wrap of who else was there — and what they were wearing. 

    © 2024 ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved

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