Nicole Kidman Says She Lied About Her Height in Early Career After Being Told She Was 'Too Tall'

Nicole Kidman is speaking out about a time she was told she wouldn't "have a career" due to her height.

The Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom actress — who is 5 ft. 11 in., and had already reached 5 ft. 10 in. by the time she was 13 years old — recalled in an interview with the Radio Times Podcast this week that, early in her acting days, "I was told, 'You won’t have a career. You’re too tall.' "

“I was called 'storky.' [People would say], ‘How’s the air up there?!’ ... [Now I get], ‘You’re so much taller than I thought,' [and then] grappling with how high my heels should be," she went on. "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? ... I’m just gonna be the tallest person — the giraffe!' "

She specifically remembers lying that she was 5 ft. 10½ in. instead of 5 ft. 11 in. — as well as auditioning for Annie as part of a large open call and worrying that she would be cut early for being too tall.

"I had to talk my way through the door, 'cause they were measuring you before you went in," said Kidman, 56. "I was mortified."

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The Academy Award winner admitted that her height does "bother" her at times, "when I’m acting and I want to be small ... [but] there's times when I appreciate it, when it's related to what I'm doing [in my work]. I'm like,' 'Okay, I can use this now.' "

And while she is "incredibly grateful to be healthy and walking around," Kidman said she has "had knee issues and all sorts of things — partly 'cause of my height!"

Any insecurity she feels is put into perspective, though, when she thinks about her children. (Kidman is mom to son Connor Cruise, 29, plus daughters Bella Kidman Cruise, 31, Sunday, 15, and Faith, 13.)

"I tell my daughters none of it matters," said the Big Little Lies star. "What matters is how you allow other people to either say 'yes' or 'no' to you, and whether you accept that. ... That inner resilience, as a human being — that’s the superpower, really."

Back in a November 2020 digital cover interview for Glamour U.K., Kidman discussed the "fears and insecurities" she had over her height as a teenager.

Still, the Prom actress played to her strengths and chose an unconventional dress for her own prom.

“I wore a 1920s flapper dress, which goes along with my ‘not conforming’ sensibility," she recalled. "I bought it in a vintage store and I just loved the idea of a flapper dress, it was black and white beading — it was definitely not tulle and big skirts."

"I think I remember getting a little drunk too, which is probably a lot of people’s experiences at their prom or formal," Kidman joked.