Globes Flashback '96: Kidman's Career Changes

Receiving an award is a huge boost for an actor. Not only is it encouraging to an actor but also serves as a benchmark in his or her career. As Nicole Kidman reflects on winning her first major award in 1996, she realizes the moment is more than just a benchmark but rather a turning point for her career.

After establishing herself as a lead actress in the early '90s, Kidman delivered a cherished performance in the dark comedy To Die For, for which she received her first Golden Globe, which was also her first major award. In the press room after winning Best Actress, she reflects on the grander implications of the award.

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"People were saying to me, 'Do you feel that you've changed?' and I said, 'Well, I don't feel I've changed but my career's changed,'" she says with a smile. "It's been a really amazing year for me and I can't believe it."

While the Australian actress had just won her first Golden Globe, the members of the media in the press room couldn't help themselves from prompting Kidman with questions about her then-husband Tom Cruise. Overall, she credits her actor husband for helping keep her balanced during production.

"[Tom] was really supportive of me because I sort of see my dailies and go, 'Oh no! That was terrible! I could have done it so much better!'" she highlights. "I'm very tough on myself so he gives me the support that helps you to get through something like that."

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In To Die For, Kidman plays a young woman with dreams of becoming a world-famous news anchor who will do anything to achieve those dreams and is eventually killed because of it. Ironically, Kidman's own career sought quite an opposite fate, and she became one of Hollywood's hottest actresses for years after her career-altering role.

"They're fun when you win," she says of awards ceremonies, at which she has become a regular since that year. "They're nerve-wracking, but...I think awards show are really nice because it's a celebration of the industry and it's a way in which so many people come together from all different places and celebrate making movies, and that's what we're all here for."

By her qualification, Kidman has had plenty of fun at awards shows since then, as she's won two more awards and was nominated in four consecutive years in the early 2000s. She'll have an opportunity to increase her Globes total to up to five this year, as she is nominated for both The Paperboy and the TV film Hemingway & Gellhorn.