Nicole Kidman to Receive 2023 AFI Life Achievement Award
Nicole Kidman is set to receive the 2023 AFI Life Achievement Award honoring her career across film and television, the American Film Institute announced on Tuesday. The Oscar- and Emmy-winner will receive the award at the Institute’s splashy annual gala tribute, set next year for June 10. Kidman is the first Australian actor to receive the honor and the 49th in the award’s history.
“Nicole Kidman has enchanted audiences for decades with the daring of her artistry and the glamour of a screen icon,” said Kathleen Kennedy, chair of the AFI Board of Trustees, in a statement. “She is a force both brave in her choices and bold in each performance. AFI is honored to present her with the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award.”
Kidman is a five-time Oscar nominee and winner for Best Actress for 2002’s “The Hours,” in which she gave a powerhouse performance as Virginia Woolf. She’s otherwise been nominated for “Moulin Rouge!,” “Rabbit Hole,” “Lion,” and last year’s “Being the Ricardos,” where she played Lucille Ball in a feat of casting many were skeptical of, but that ultimately proved well-matched for Kidman’s mix of canny comic timing and steeliness. She earned a Primetime Emmy in 2017 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries for “Big Little Lies,” playing troubled Monterey housewife Celeste Wright. She also won an Emmy for producing the HBO series.
As AFI notes, Kidman has earned a reputation for her extraordinary talent, commitment to her craft and desire to work with auteur filmmakers including Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, Baz Luhrmann, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Lars von Trier, and Stanley Kubrick. She co-founded her production company Blossom Films in 2010 and maintains a prolific output across film and television, most recently appearing in the series “The Undoing” and “Nine Perfect Strangers” and the Viking epic “The Northman.” Other credits include her breakout performances in “Days of Thunder” and “Far and Away,” her cult-favorite work in “The Paperboy,” “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” “Stoker,” and “Birth,” as well as “To Die For,” “The Others,” “Australia,” “Nine,” “The Beguiled,” “Bombshell,” and even a dip into DC waters with “Aquaman.”
The AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute will take place June 10 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. This year’s AFI Life Achievement recipient was Julie Andrews, with other recent honorees including Denzel Washington, George Clooney, and Diane Keaton.
