Nicole Kidman gave a rousing speech on female empowerment at Tuesday night's Women in Film's Crystal + Lucy Awards. She then put on a shower cap and kissed her similarly adorned best friend Naomi Watts.
It may sound like these besties left their senses of fashion and decorum down under but Kidman was in fact creatively challenging women to face their fears - by embracing one she once succumbed to. The Oscar-winner recalled 33 years ago when she was offered a role in provocative director Jane Campion's student film. The only catch? You guessed it. She would have to wear a shower cap and kiss a girl.
At 14-years-old Kidman was “not ready to do the kind of work that threatened anybody.” Now, with a body of challenging work behind her, we're delighted by Nic's declaration that, “Today I know better and I say, 'Jane, if you're out there... I'm ready to don this cap.'” Fortunately, the other half of her decades-strong, insanely talented BFF team was also up to the challenge.
While the smooching may have been the headline-prompting moment of the night, Kidman's call-to-arms for the industry to support female artists demonstrates that she has indeed found her voice. She implored her contemporaries, “Let's pledge together today to be there for that girl, to support her artistically, emotionally [and] financially. Let us create opportunities for her and teach her to manage that inner voice that is trying so hard every day to hold her back. Let us show her that she is strong, smart, and talented and she deserves every part that might interest her and at equal pay, too.”
Hopefully the support promoted by this platonic power couple helps today's young Nicoles and Naomis step outside their comfort zones and achieve greatness.
If that means more shower caps and kissing? We're fine with that too.
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