At the start of her career, Nicole Kidman admitted to fibbing about her height, reducing it by half an inch in order to land auditions.
Kidman is 5ft 11in (1.8 metres) but she told the Radio Times she would pretend to be 5ft 10 and a half to get work.
She shared, “I was informed that I wouldn’t have a successful career because of my height.” “People used to comment, ‘How’s the weather up there?'” Now, I receive remarks like, “You’re much taller than I expected” or men struggle with how high my heels should be.” “Whenever I attend events, I am always sent very high heels. I often joke, ‘Do they have kitten heels? I don’t want to be the tallest person there – like a giraffe!'”
Recalling a failed audition for the musical Annie when she was a child, Kidman said those in contention were being measured before being allowed into the audition room. She was 5ft 4in at the time, two inches above the 5ft 2in cut-off.
However, she was able to convince her way into the audition and begged for a role. “Unfortunately, I did not receive the part,” she stated. “I didn’t even receive a callback – but I did have the opportunity to sing four lines of a chorus.”
Kidman informed her teenage daughters, Sunday and Faith, that any physical insecurities they may have should not be a concern. She emphasized the importance of how they handle other people’s opinions and whether or not they let it affect them. She believes that inner strength is the ultimate superpower as a human being.
In a 2016 interview with Radio Times, actor Chris Hemsworth revealed that he had previously lied about his height in order to land roles. He explained, “There have been roles I’ve wanted to audition for where I didn’t fit the physical requirements. In those cases, I’ve lied about my height [6ft 3in] and claimed to be shorter.” However, he also noted that the opposite had happened as well, sharing an example of an audition for Thor where the requirement was to be over 6ft 1in, which was something he had never encountered before.
Nicole Kidman is most recognized for her performances in Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge, and Cold Mountain. She has received five Oscar nominations and won one in 2003 for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours. She is currently starring in the upcoming Amazon Prime series Expats, set to premiere later this month.
Other than Kidman, there was another individual who shared their struggles with height in an interview with the Radio Times. The producers of University Challenge have opted to provide the new host, Amol Rajan, with a smaller chair for the upcoming season of the BBC program.
In an interview with the magazine, the subject shared that there was much discussion surrounding the size of the chair he sat in. Many compared him to the villain in Inspector Gadget and joked that he might turn around to reveal a pet cat in his lap. He mentioned that in the upcoming series, he will have a slightly smaller chair.
Source: theguardian.com
