Summary

• Nicole Kidman has had a diverse and successful career in both film and television, with numerous award nominations and wins.
• Some of her standout roles include her performances in "The Hours," "Moulin Rouge!," and "Lion."
• Kidman has collaborated with acclaimed directors such as Sofia Coppola, Baz Luhrmann, and Lars von Trier, showcasing her versatility as an actor.

Nicole Kidman has made so many iconic movies, with some standing out as her best work. Kidman has succeeded in all categories, from blockbuster superhero movies to musicals to experimental art films. Her career began in the 1980s but took off in the mid-90s with her role in the blockbuster Batman Forever and the dark-comedy To Die For, which earned her widespread acclaim for her starring performance. Nicole Kidman has been nominated for Academy Awards five times, winning Best Actress once in 2003 for the film The Hours. She's also won a whopping six Golden Globe Awards.

Aside from film, Nicole Kidman has found astounding success on television in recent years. The HBO series Big Little Lies allowed her to showcase her talent in long-form drama, and she's since regularly appeared on various streaming shows, on top of many film roles. Big Little Lies may be some of her most prestigious acting work, but she's best known for her movie roles.

10 The Beguiled (2017)

Directed by Sofia Coppola

The Beguiled isn't one of Sofia Coppola's best films, but she's a fantastic director, and anything of hers is worth watching. The film takes place during the American Civil War, where Nicole Kidman plays the heistress of a small girls' school. A wounded soldier takes refuge at the school, disrupting the lives of the heistress and the other girls who haven't seen a man in some time, causing tension between them. The film also stars Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, and Colin Farrell, each of whom gives a strong performance. The Beguiled is a must-see for fans of the Southern Gothic aesthetic or period dramas.

9 Moulin Rouge!

Directed by Baz Luhrmann

Moulin Rouge! is the sort of spectacle of a film one would expect from Baz Luhrmann in one of the two projects he worked on with Nicole Kidman. The musical romantic drama is quintessential Baz Luhrmann, with a stunning visual style and innovative uses of music set in bohemian Paris. It follows Ewan McGregor as Christian, a young English poet who falls in love with Kidman's Satine, the lead actress at the Moulin Rouge. The role earned Nicole Kidman an Academy Award nomination and is widely celebrated for her performance. Her other Baz Luhrmann film, Australia, is also quite good.

8 Lion (2016)

Directed by Garth Davis

Starring Dev Patel as Saroo, Lion is a beautiful film about a boy separated from his family in India after getting on a train that takes him thousands of miles away. After being unable to find his way home, Saroo is placed in an orphanage, where Nicole Kidman's Sue Brierley adopts him. Lion tells the emotional tale of Saroo trying to find his way home as an adult years later, with acclaimed performances across the board. It might not feature Nicole Kidman in the starring role, but it's a vital part of her filmography, as it was nominated for several Academy Awards.

7 Paddington (2014)

Directed by Paul King

Paddington stands out among Nicole Kidman's best films, as it's a family-friendly live-action/animation movie about the titular Peruvian bear navigating his life in London. Kidman plays a terrific villain in Millicent Clyde, a taxidermist hoping to add Paddington to her collection. The Paddington films are widely praised for their charm, humor, heartwarming narratives, and excellent family movies.

6 The Northman (2022)

Directed by Robert Eggers

The Northman is a great historical epic that unfortunately bombed at the box office. The Northman is an epic tale of Viking revenge directed by Robert Eggers, one of Hollywood's newest and most exciting talents. It's beautifully stylized and a must-watch for fans of Viking culture and Norse mythology, with great performances from Alexander Skarsgård, Anya Taylor-Joy, and, of course, Nicole Kidman, who plays the mother of Skarsgård's lead character. It's a funny casting choice, seeing as they played husband and wife on Big Little Lies, but in this Shakespearean Viking narrative, she's the wife of a murdered King.

5 The Hours (2002)

Directed by Stephen Daldry

The Hours deserves to be mentioned for earning Nicole Kidman her only Academy Award, but it's also a great drama film. It follows three women set during different time periods, including Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, and Kidman, who plays Virginia Woolf in the semi-fictional biographical portrayal. The characters are connected by Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway and the impact of literature on their lives. The Hours sees Nicole Kidman go through a physical transformation to play the role, including a prosthetic nose, which makes her difficult to recognize at first glance.

4 The Others (2001)

Directed by Alejandro Amenábar

The Others is a psychological period horror film set in England following World War II. Nicole Kidman plays a woman named Grace, the mother of two children, all of whom live in a mysterious mansion that she begins to suspect is haunted. It's a tense, atmospheric, exciting thriller, led by Kidman's gripping performance as a character descending into fear and paranoia, leading to The Others' shocking ending.

3 To Die For (1995)

Directed by Gus Van Sant

From the terrific Gus Van Sant, To Die For has one of Nicole Kidman's best performances in film, showcasing her versatility in the role of Suzanne Stone Maretto. She's a woman willing to do anything to achieve fame and fortune by becoming a television personality. This includes having her husband (Matt Dillon) murdered, as she feels that his middle-class lifestyle his holding her back from her ambitions. To do so, she enlists the help of a high school student, played by Joaquin Phoenix. To Die For is an excellent dark-comedy drama with thoughtful social commentary, and one of the performances that put Nicole Kidman on the map as a prestige actor.

2 Dogville (2003)

Directed by Lars von Trier

Lars von Trier's films are often challenging for various reasons, and Dogville is an experimental entry to his filmography. It's a film about a woman on the run from mobsters who arrives in a small, economically struggling town, where she's offered shelter in return for labor. Nicole Kidman gives an incredible performance in the lead role. It's an unconventional, provocative film that explores complex ideas through unique narrative development. For film lovers, Lars von Trier's work is worth trying, and Dogville is one of his more underrated projects.

1 Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Combining an acting talent like Nicole Kidman with Tom Cruise and Stanley Kubrick, one of the best directors of all time, makes for an almost guaranteed success. Eyes Wide Shut is an erotic psychological thriller that explores themes of sexual desire and jealousy, following Cruise as a man off on a complicated adventure after his wife tells him she's had a sexual fantasy about another man. Kidman plays Alice Harford, the wife of Cruise's Bill Harford, delivering a fantastic performance, including the film's chilling final line.