NewsPhotosVideosShopKardashiansRoyalsTV Scoop
NewsPhotosVideosShopKardashiansRoyalsTV Scoop

All of Nicole Kidman's Most Haunting Performances

22 photos
Aug 12, 2021 8:54 PM
LINK COPIED!
Pin It
Nine Perfect Strangers, Nicole Kidman, Cult Shows
1/22
Vince Valitutti/Hulu

Nine Perfect Strangers

Nicole Kidman plays a charismatic wellness leader leading a ten-day retreat that quickly turns sinister for nine strangers. Melissa McCarthy, Luke Evans, Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall, Michael Shannon and Samara Weaving co-star in the David E. Kelley-produced Hulu miniseries based on the novel by Liane Moriarty. 


Pin It
2/22
Niko Tavernise/HBO

The Undoing

Kidman teams up again with showrunner Kelley for HBO Max's The Undoing, centered around an elite Manhattan family dealing with the unthinkable: the murder of a mistress. Besides wearing a slew of fashionable coats, Kidman's character Grace Fraser begins questioning her husband (Hugh Grant) and her own sanity. The gruesome miniseries even took a toll on Kidman's real-life mental health due to the "taxing" experience filming. 

"Even on The Undoing it kind of happened where I just like suddenly was in this place of... There was sort of a disquietness to my personality," Kidman revealed on podcast WTF With Marc Maron, "where I was uneasy and there was duress on who I was. I went down for a week, because your immune system it doesn't know the difference between acting and truth when you're doing them."


Pin It
3/22
HBO/ZUMA

Big Little Lies

Celeste Wright has been through a lot: domestic violence, emotional abuse and you know, she may or may not have killed her husband. Kidman's turn on Big Little Lies landed her a well-deserved Emmy in 2017. "We've shown a light on domestic abuse," Kidman said in her acceptance speech. "It is a complicated, insidious disease. It exists far more than we allow ourselves to know. It is filled with shame and secrecy and by you acknowledging me with this award it shines a light on it even more." 


Pin It
4/22
Moviestore/Shutterstock

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

A beloved surgeon (Colin Farrell) watches as his children mysteriously become ill. Kidman plays his well-meaning wife whose health also takes a turn for the worse, as a creepy teenager (Barry Keoghan) slithers into their family. 


Pin It
5/22
B Rothstein/Focus Features/Kobal/Shutterstock

The Beguiled

Taking the Battle of the Sexes literally! Set during the Civil War, 2017 film Beguiled centers on a Southern girls' boarding school helmed by headmistress Kidman, that takes in a wounded soldier (Colin Farrell). The inevitable sexual tension turns violent, leading to a story of seductive competition, mysterious vengeance and a cat-and-mouse chase with deadly consequences. Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning co-star as a teacher and rebellious student, respectively. 


Pin It
6/22
Moviestore/Shutterstock

Before I Go to Sleep

Christine (Kidman) can't remember anything past 24 hours due to a past traumatic accident, yet she uncovers hints that her reality is not what it seems. 


Pin It
7/22

The Others

A mother of two (Kidman) moves into an old family mansion that may or may not be haunted. Spoiler: it is.


Pin It
8/22
Fox Searchlight Pictures/Kobal/Shutterstock

Stoker

A death in the Stoker family leads to a mysterious uncle (Matthew Goode) moving in with India (Mia Wasikowska) and her unstable mother (Kidman) in the 2013 film. India becomes infatuated with her newfound relative as family secrets emerge. 


Pin It
9/22
Laurie Sparham/New Line Cinema/Kobal/Shutterstock

The Golden Compass

Based on the novels of the same name, The Golden Compass takes place in a parallel universe where children are kidnapped by the terrifying Mrs. Coulter (Kidman) for experimental purposes. And yes, Kidman wears more stylish fur-lined coats laced with kids' tears. 


Pin It
10/22
Paramount/Dreamworks/Kobal/Shutterstock

The Stepford Wives

Joanna Eberhart (Kidman) may not be the perfect wife, but at least she's real. The 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives uncovers the secret behind perfect suburbia: lobotomies. 


Pin It
11/22
ITV/Shutterstock

To Die For

A career worth killing for. An aspiring TV anchor (Kidman) films a documentary about teenagers, but she has a sinister ulterior motive to sharing their stories. Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck and Matt Dillon co-star in the 1995 film. 


Pin It
12/22
Annapurna Pictures

Destroyer

Kidman is barely recognizable as a traumatized LAPD detective who is forced to confront her past in Destroyer while investigating a new, grisly case. 


Pin It
13/22
Olympus/Kobal/Shutterstock

Rabbit Hole

A mother (Kidman) grieves for her young son after a fatal accident, turning to intense sexual coping with her husband (Aaron Eckhart). 


Pin It
14/22
James Bridges/New Line/Kobal/Shutterstock

Birth

Cue the paranoia, because Birth is all about the chilling aftermath of grief. A young boy (Cameron Bright) tries to convince a widow (Kidman) that he is her dead husband reborn. 


Pin It
15/22
Moviestore/Shutterstock

Eyes Wide Shut

Tom Cruise plays a New York City doctor who discovers an underground world of elite sexual predators after his wife (Kidman) reveals that she had an affair.


Pin It
16/22
Moviestore/Shutterstock

The Human Stain

A disgraced former college dean (Anthony Hopkins) has an affair with a mysterious younger woman (Kidman) who has secrets of her own.


Pin It
17/22
Hilary Bronwyn Gayle SMPSP

Bombshell

Kidman transforms into former FOX News anchor Gretchen Carlson during the Oscar-nominated biopic Bombshell, based on the sexual harassment lawsuit against the network. 


Pin It
18/22

Dogville

Lauren Bacall, Paul Bettany and Patricia Clarkson co-star in director Lars von Trier's Dogville about a woman (Kidman) on the run from the mob who finds solace in a small town...but everything comes with a price.


Pin It
19/22
Gramercy/Getty Images

The Portrait of a Lady

Kidman stars as an American woman who inherits a fortune and enters a toxic relationship that turns her life into a nightmare. John Malkovich and Barbara Hershey co-star in the 1996 film. 


Pin It
20/22
Hal/Portobello/Kobal/Shutterstock

Birthday Girl

Ben Chaplin stars as a lonely bank clerk who sends for a Russian mail-order bride (Kidman) who has a surprising past of her own. 


Pin It
21/22
UNITED INTERNATIONAL PICTURES / ZUMA

Malice

Happily married couple Tracy (Kidman) and Andy (Bill Pullman) are struggling to conceive, but their world turns upside down after Tracy undergoes a mysterious procedure by a reckless doctor (Alec Baldwin). 


Pin It
22/22
Moviestore/Shutterstock

Practical Magic

OK so, yes, Practical Magic is, for all intents and purposes, a romantic comedy. However, we just can't stop thinking about how Bewitch-ing Kidman is as a victim of domestic abuse who watches her boyfriend die...only to then resurrect him using her powers as a witch, with disastrous consequences.


Next Gallery
Secrets About How the Grinch Stole Christmas
About UsSubscribeContact UsFAQCareersClosed CaptioningWatch Full EpisodesSitemapE! International TV ChannelsCustomer Support

Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and ​celebrity gossip. Check out the hottest fashion, photos, movies and TV shows!

Ad ChoicesPrivacy PolicyCA NoticeTerms of Service

© 2025 E! Entertainment Television, LLC A Versant Media Company. All rights reserved.