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Nicole Kidman has set the record straight on her most enduring meme, based on an infamous photo widely believed to have been taken after she finalised her divorce from Tom Cruise.
A 2001 snap of the Big Little Lies actress walking outside with outstretched arms and a relieved – if not joyful – look on her face has long circulated online.
Social media users have long opted to use meme to express the emotion of making it through a tough or exhausting situation.
However, while it was previously thought the photo was taken after Nicole signed the divorce papers to end her union with Cruise in 2001, she’s poured cold water on the claim.
During an interview for the December 2024 issue of British GQ magazine, the Babygirl star insisted that it was ‘not true’.
‘That was not me; that was from a film, that wasn’t real life. I know that image!’ the 57-year-old declared alongside her stunning photoshoot, without specifying the movie the still is from.
But it sounds like she’s insisting it’s her in character rather than real life.
Kidman and Cruise were married from 1990 until 2001, during which time they adopted two children – Isabella, 31, and Connor, 29.
The Australian star has been wed to country singer Keith Urban since 2006, with the couple sharing daughters Sunday Rose, 16, and Faith Margaret, 13.
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Elsewhere in the conversation, the actress also admitted she is aware she appears in other popular memes, such as the photo taken of her at the 2017 Academy Awards in which she is seen trying to clap awkwardly with only the palms of her hands.
‘I’ve also seen the one where I’m clapping like that. ‘Cause I had a massive heavy borrowed ring on and it was really painful, and I was scared of wrecking the jewellery. Ha! There’s always something behind the actual images that go out there, right?’ she smiled.
In addition, Kidman noted that she doesn’t mind the meme which stemmed from her 2021 AMC advertisement in which she made a plea for people to go back to the cinema following the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘I’ll do anything for cinema, so you can meme me as much as you want,’ the Oscar-winning actress joked.
She’s tipped for awards success again this season thanks to her bold performance in upcoming film Babygirl.
The Moulin Rouge star already scooped Venice Film Festival’s best actress award for her turn in the erotic age-gap drama, which sees her tech CEO embark on a torrid affair with an intern played by Harris Dickinson.
During the movie, she is seen masturbating, nude and lapping milk like a cat, with the actress revealing ahead of her movie’s premiere at the prestigious festival that the thought of it being released had her hands ‘shaking’.
‘This definitely leaves me exposed and vulnerable and frightened and all of those things when it’s given to the world,’ Kidman told reporters including Metro.
‘But making it with these people here, it was delicate and intimate and very, very deep. Right now we’re all a bit nervous, so I was like, “I hope my hands aren’t shaking”!’
Kidman also said she didn’t feel exploited, as some of the erotic thrillers of the 80s and 90s could be accused of doing to their leading ladies.
‘I think that’s what made it so compelling, was being in the hands of [director] Halina [Reijn] because I knew she wasn’t going to exploit me. I mean, however anyone interprets that, I didn’t feel exploited.
‘I felt very much a part of it. It’s the story that I wanted to be a part of, that I wanted to tell, and every part of me was committed to that. So for me, that wasn’t at all exploitive.’
The actress already has one acting win from five Academy Award nominations, with her turn in 2002’s The Hours.
Babygirl is set for UK release on January 10, 2025. It will be released in the US on December 20.
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