Nicole Kidman is today known as one of the most glamorous and uniquely beautiful women in Hollywood.
But the Australian actress, 53, has revealed that she was often teased and bullied for her appearance as a teenager.
The Perfect Couple star opened up about her struggles with body image in the new documentary series, In Vogue: The 90s.
The show, which premiered at the weekend on Disney+, gives viewers an inside look at the fashion world during the decade of ‘heroin chic’ supermodels and examines its lasting impact on our perception of beauty.
In her very candid interview, Nicole admitted she didn’t begin to feel confident in her own skin until the A-list fashion world came calling.
‘I mean, I was a red-headed, fair-skinned girl who was almost 5’11 at the age of 14,’ she said in the interview.
‘I would get teased, and it wasn’t kind.’
But her perceived disadvantage was turned on its head once Kidman began getting invites to Hollywood red carpets.
In new docuseries In Vogue In The 90s Nicole Kidman reveals that she bullied for her appearance throughout her childhood and adolescene
‘Can you believe it? My whole life, I wanted to be 5’2″ and curvaceous and suddenly, being 5’11” and completely sort of skinny and flat chested was like, “Great, we can dress you.”
‘Every time I was given access to that whole world, you feel like a little girl who’s been given the chance to step into this sort of fantasy world.’
By the time 1990 rolled around, Nicole made her Hollywood debut opposite Tom Cruise in Tony Scott’s auto-racing film, Days of Thunder.
In the following years, her star continued to rise as the striking red head churned out films that were – and still are – cult hits.
Kidman’s first big splash in the fashion world came when iconic fashion designer du jour John Galliano dressed her in Dior for the 1997 Academy Awards.
‘I mean, I was a red-headed, fair-skinned girl who was almost 5’11 at the age of 14,’ Nicole Kidman says in the series (Pictured in Sydney in 1983)
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise at the 69th annual Academy Awards. Kidman is wearing John Galliano’s famous Chartreuse Dior dress
Sharing what was going through her mind when the fashion designer reached out, Nicole unpacked some of her body image struggles from her youth and what it meant to her to have a dress designed specifically for her.
‘I grew up watching Audrey Hepburn and Katharine Hepburn and Grace Kelly — all these women whose style was created with the designers that they’re affiliated with,’ Nicole continued, speaking of ushering in a new era in red carpet fashion.
‘They just loved fashion.
‘So I remember thinking, but of course, this should be brought into Hollywood now, and we should be wearing the things that are made in these gorgeous little salons in Paris.
‘Because that’s what they used to do, so why aren’t we still doing it?’
The documentary series, which aired its first three episodes on September 13, is based on a Vogue-produced podcast of the same name.
Nicole Kidman at the 81st Venice International Film Festival in 2024
This story is being told by the people who had powerful influence over the most turbulent and transformative decade in fashion.
This included tastemaking designers and fashion editors to the era’s top models and actors.
The series features a stunning roll call of contributors that includes everyone from Tom Ford, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, and Linda Evangelista, to Kim Kardashian, Missy Elliott, Victoria Beckham, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tyson Beckford, Hillary Clinton, Marc Jacobs and Muccia Prada, and Marc Jacobs, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Anna Wintour, Vogue magazine’s global editor Hamish Bowels, and former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enniful, who co-produced and appear in the series, hosted a special screening on September 17, the final day of London Fashion Week.