America 1987

Chapter 49 A Secret Relationship

When Nicole Kidman is mentioned, most people think of her as "Tom Cruise's ex-wife".

What most people don't know is that from her marriage in 1990 to her divorce in 2001, Nicole didn't actually make much progress in her career during those ten years. She mostly played pretty but useless "decorative" roles.

Her marriage to Tom Cruise greatly boosted her exposure and popularity. If we were to make a comparison, Nicole Kidman in the 90s would be roughly equivalent to Fan Bingbing in the Chinese entertainment industry.

She was indeed very famous, appearing at various movie premieres, film festivals, and fashion shows, but if you asked her what outstanding works or particularly memorable roles she had back then, it seems there weren't many.

She and Tom Cruise officially divorced in 2001.

Generally speaking, female celebrities who rely on their husbands' popularity and resources should quickly fade into obscurity and disappear from public view after losing their backers.

But Nicole is not like that.

She divorced in 01, and in 02 she released a film that earned her an Oscar for Best Actress, "The Hours".

The following year, after the Oscars ceremony, the media reported extensively that Nicole Kidman truly shone after leaving Tom Cruise, and that she could still shine brightly in Hollywood without him.

In short, it was all praise and she was labeled an "independent woman".

Even now, some of Nicole's die-hard fans are still spouting nonsense online, saying things like "Tom Cruise is marrying Nicole, he's marrying above his station" and "Tom Cruise isn't good enough for Nicole."

Today, let's delve into why Nicole Kidman's career in Hollywood has actually improved rather than declined after leaving Tom Cruise.

The 02 film "The Hours" was directed by Stephen Daldry, who "discussed the film with the Weinstein Company before filming began," indicating that Daldry and Weinstein had business dealings.

Moreover, "The Hours" was co-produced by Paramount and independent film companies such as Weinstein's Miramax.

At that time, Weinstein was at the peak of his career, having just dominated the Oscars with films such as "The English Patient," "Shakespeare in Love," and "Chicago," and his influence in Oscar public relations even surpassed that of the six major studios.

Weinstein helped Katharine win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for "Chicago" because of her husband, Michael Douglas.

Nani might win the more prestigious Oscar for Best Actress for "The Hours," but who is Weinstein doing this for?

If the above is just my malicious speculation, then what's next?

Starting with "Cold Mountain," their first official collaboration in 03, Nicole Kidman and Weinstein have worked together on at least seven films, including "Cold Mountain," "The Others," "Nine," and "Lion."

Moreover, when the two officially collaborated on their first film, Cold Mountain, Weinstein generously provided nearly $8000 million in production funding.

At the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Weinstein publicly stated that "Grace of Monaco" was the seventh film he had worked on with Kidman, and jokingly said, "Say something good about me and this film."

The two were "brothers" at the Calvin Party event in Cannes, and in addition, "the media has captured countless intimate moments of the two on other occasions."

Nicole initially remained silent after Weinstein's sex scandal broke in 17.

Under public pressure, she later issued a statement through public relations.

The statement expressed "support and praise for all women and those who dare to speak out against abuse and abuse of power," and called for "the eradication of this behavior," but did not mention Weinstein's name or whether she had ever been harassed by him.

What's even more outrageous is that, just months before the scandal broke in 17, reporters photographed Nicole and Weinstein together.

All of this makes it blatantly wrong to claim that the two are completely innocent.

No wonder she flirted with David on set; after all, she could bring herself to kiss Weinstein, given his age and appearance.

However, these things were not too unexpected for David.

Compared to other industries, the acting profession relies heavily on interpersonal relationships and networks.

The norm in the acting industry is to "find roles and get jobs." Many projects don't publicly recruit for roles, and opportunities are mostly found within industry networks.

Even established actors often obtain high-quality projects, important roles, and award resources through personal connections and recommendations.

Because actors alone don't have the ability to make the pie bigger; they're just there to get a slice.

Therefore, when both are top-tier actors, actors often have to compromise and make concessions to directors and producers, who are the ones who expand the market and provide project opportunities.

Therefore, there is a saying in the industry: "If you are good at acting, you can become a director." After establishing and consolidating their superstar status, top-tier actors often try to take on the role of director or producer in order to better control the narrative of projects.

Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow in Hong Kong, and Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio in Hollywood are all examples of this.

Therefore, almost every actress who makes it big in Hollywood has experienced the unspoken rules of the industry. Having a powerful background is useless, because those with truly powerful connections simply wouldn't be there.

Gwyneth Paltrow, who plays Pepper Potts in Iron Man, comes from a top Hollywood family. Her father is a well-known film producer and director, and her mother is a Tony Award-winning actress. She is a "second-generation star" with her own industry resources.

Oh right, I almost forgot, her godfather is Steven Spielberg. Pepper Potts' screen debut was as young Wendy in Spielberg's "Hook".

Even with so many buffs stacked on her, she still couldn't escape Weinstein's lecherous hands.

"Splash, splash~" The water gushed out of the metal tap as Nicole turned it on. She carefully rinsed her right hand for a while before turning it off and drying it with a towel.

She carefully brought her right hand to her nose and sniffed it, but she could still feel a faint fishy smell lingering on it.

However, it could also be psychological. As Nicole flipped through the script for tomorrow's performance with her left hand, she mentally reviewed her reckless actions.

She was well aware of the "recklessness" of her actions, but she had no choice. That woman named Catherine was keeping a close eye on her boyfriend, and once off-set, she had no chance to get close to the director again.

A top Hollywood director proactively invited an unknown actress to play the lead role in his film, without even going through the usual audition process, and directly decided on her.

Although Nicole initially thought that the other party was only giving her the role out of a sense of compensation, she soon overturned her previous idea after receiving the script and learning about the role's scenes.

The quality of the script itself is beyond doubt, and the character she plays, the housewife An, is the absolute soul of the entire film, with a very strong sense of layering and three-dimensionality, completely different from the kind of minor supporting role or decorative female lead she had previously envisioned.

In this situation, if Nicole still didn't understand the other person's thoughts, then she wouldn't have been able to achieve such success in the original timeline.

After all, there's Woody Allen as a prime example.

Well, Woody Allen's favorite way to date is to cast actresses who aren't very famous. His most common method is to give them a central role in his films and then declare to the public, "This actress is my muse."

Providing resources to the other party under the guise of "inspiring creative inspiration" will not raise much objection from the media and the public. Even if there is, it will only be some gossip news that is neither positive nor negative.