Nicole Kidman told the "Radio Times Podcast" that someone once said she'd never make it in Hollywood because she's tall. This was way before she hit big time in the U.S. and snagged an Oscar for "The Hours." Back in her early days in Australia, she often got criticized for her height at auditions.
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"I was told, 'You won't have a career. You're too tall,'" she says.
She recalled this one time at an "Annie" audition where they were checking everyone's height right at the door. If you were too tall, no chance. So, she had to really work to get into that casting room.
Kidman said, "I had to talk my way through the door because they were measuring you before you went in. I was mortified." She even started fibbing about her height, saying she was "5 foot 10 ½ inches" when she's actually "5 foot 11 inches."
She admitted, "I was teased. I was called Storky." Kidman said her height can be a hassle in her acting gigs, but sometimes it's an advantage. She's thankful for her health, though she's had some knee problems, maybe from being tall.
This whole height issue taught her some lessons she passed on to her two daughters with her husband, Keith Urban. She tells them not to sweat the small stuff and focus on how they react to what others say. It's all about inner strength.
"What I tell my daughters is that none of it matters," she said. "What matters is how you allow other people to either say 'yes' or 'no' to you, and whether you accept that. Inner resilience as a human being, that's the superpower, really."
Recently, Kidman came back as Queen Atlanna in "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" from Warner Bros. Next, she's in "Expats" on Amazon Prime Video, a show she's also producing. The series, directed by Lulu Wang of "The Farewell" fame, launches Jan. 26.
