"Kidmania, Summer 2023 Edition" courtesy of AFI
Wednesday, November 23, 2022 at 9:44AM by Nathaniel R
This just in. The goddess Nicole Kidman will receive what the AFI calls "The Highest Honor in American Cinema" next summer. That honor is the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. She'll be the first Australian so honored. Take that Cate Blanchett! She's also only the 11th actress they've ever honored in this way...
The ceremony will be held on June 10th, 2023 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Kathleen Kennedy, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees says the following about the silver screen giant:
Nicole Kidman has enchanted audiences for decades with the daring of her artistry and the glamour of a screen icon. She is a force both brave in her choices and bold in each performance.”
The only actresses who have previously been so honored are...
- Bette Davis (1977) -prevously 2 Oscars, and the Cecil B DeMille at the Globes
- Lillian Gish (1984) -previously 1 Honorary Oscar
- Barbara Stanwyck (1987) -previously 1 Honorary Oscar, SAG Lifetime Achievement, and Cecil B DeMille at the Globes
- Elizabeth Taylor (1993) -previously 2 Oscars, 1 Honorary Oscar and the Cecil B DeMille at the Globes
- Barbra Streisand (2001) -previously 2 Oscars and the Cecil B DeMille at the Globes
- Meryl Streep (2004) -previously 2 Oscars
- Shirley Maclaine (2012) -previously 1 Oscar and the Cecil B DeMille at the Globes
- Jane Fonda (2014) -previously 2 Oscars
- Diane Keaton (2017) -previously 1 Oscar
- Julie Andrews (2022) -previously 1 Oscar and the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award
The AFI isn't exactly influencing the conversation on the GOATS -- just following where Oscar and sometimes the SAG or the Globes lead -- but it's still a sweet and fairly rare honor. It's coming surprisingly early in her career. Kidman is only 55, the second youngest woman to win this award after Streep at 54 years of age. Barbra Streisand was the only other 50something to win, the rest being 60 and above.
CONGRATULATIONS TO NICOLE KIDMAN!
P.S. We love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love Nicole but next time around they should shake things up by honoring a woman the Academy has undervalued. Michelle Pfeiffer, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, and Sigourney Weaver all totally qualify as screen icons of American cinema. None of those choices would require even a teensy bit of bravery but at least they might shift the conversation a bit in that they'd be going somewhere Oscar hasn't yet gone!
AFI, Nicole Kidman
Reader Comments (11)
Hello, meryl streep is the youngest woman to win this award
1) What @reviewer2 said: Meryl received this at 54. Hence Tracey Ullman's joke at Meryl's AFI award ceremony (paraphrased): "All these Thespian of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Awards... they're happening now. And it's baffling to me, because you're only in your early fifties—a wonderful time for most actresses! [SNOOOOORT]"
2) On that same note... why do actresses always get these so early?? Meryl went on to do The Devil Wears Prada two years later, and snag her third Oscar six years after that. Her Lifetime Achievement reel deserved those mentions.
Two of my favorite moments at the AFI Tributes involve Diane Keaton.
Oscar winner Al Pacino effused at the podium telling 2017 AFI recipient Keaton he regarded her as an artist and he would love her forever. Keaton who has always been honest about calling Pacino the love of her life and regretting his unwillingness to marry her listens to the actor’s admission with an almost stunned expression that appears real and incredibly vulnerable.
At the AFI celebration for Warren Beatty, Keaton unforgettably shares her memory of filming the classic reunion at the train station in Reds. Keaton recalls how after an excruciatingly long numbers of takes, she began the scene and felt “this sweet anguish of love when I saw your face.” In this moment, Beatty appears genuinely moved.
I wonder if Tom Cruise can rise to the occasion to appear at Kidman’s tribute and speak from the heart.
colin & reviewer2 -- fixed. my bad.
finbar -- i really should rewatch that Keaton one.
A recent movie of Kidman’s that just put me in awe of her skill was Karyn Kusama’s “Destroyer” (2018). That was heart breaking, with Kidman so tragic, so stoic, so broken - she completely seared me. Mark Kermode in The Guardian wrote an articulate appreciation of this film and Kidman’s spectacular work in it.
I agree also that Sigourney Weaver is undervalued. This year, she has FOUR very different films out. If that doesn’t lay out her range and skill in an obvious display, what does?
In “Avatar 2”, Weaver plays a 14 year old (hey, no problem). Then there’s “The Good House”, a character study comedy-drama with Kevin Kline, Paul Schrader’s “Master Gardener” with Joel Edgerton, and the advocate for women’s health and access to health care in “Call Jane” with Elizabeth Banks.
I think her work in “Call Jane” should be considered for Best Supporting Actress.
This is such a pleasant surprise.
She is definitely deserving but feels a bit premature. However, considering how often she is undervalued, any honor bestowed upon her is always welcome.
That being said, I hope they will honor other undervalued thespians as you mentioned and also other legends who are up there in age.
Nonetheless, congrats Nicole!
I wish they would put me in charge of the Honorary Oscar system. Two steps to fix it:
1. Spend a couple years handing them out like candy to the people over 80 who really deserve it and might die soon. Deal with the backlog of aging people (dozens and dozens of them) who are worthy. Make the choices good enough that nobody will think less of the prize. And be thorough.
2. Then go from bestowing 2-4 Honorary Oscars per year to 4-6. Spin the Governor's Awards off into its own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-style Honorary Oscar show with a red carpet and host. The big stars attend it anyway because they're thirsty for AMPAS goodwill—just televise and monetize this thing.
That would allow the AMPAS to celebrate people in their 50s, 60s and 70s. Celebrate more of them. Celebrate them while they're still recognizable as themselves. I see no reason why Sigourney Weaver should wait until she's 90 for an Oscar statuette; I can't think of anyone who would object to giving it to her now; I see no point in politely "giving her time to win a competitive Oscar" when we all know what's what. And maybe she still would!
I am very pleased for Nicole and like others feel it's a tad premature like the time Jodie got the Golden Globe lifetime award,
I too would have gone with Close or Weaver who is still out there in various genres doing good work,she truly is an undervalued Oscar actress,what did she do from 1989 onwards to deserve the big cold shoulder,at least Glenn has 8,Weaver has 3 and at least another 5 worthy nominations.
Julia Roberts if they wanted to go younger and she's probably more of an icon of American cinema than Nicole.
Kidmans career does deserve this kind of honour and it took a long time for the respect to come around.
I don't think calling Nicole Kidman undervalued is applicable anymore. Sure, she might be recognized for the work that isn't her *best* or most interesting, but she gets much more attention and work than most actresses. Of course, her varied and impressive filmography warrants respect, but the industry - the Oscars especially - was only ever going to recognize her in the ways they know how, which they have. That indicates to me they value her contributions.
Mate.... well... LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING MEAN GENE! (uh, it's Larry. Larry King) Whatever Larry, I'm selling tickets mate. After all, it's KIDMANIA MATE! KIDMANIA! LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING MATE! THE KIDMAN, SHE HAS THEM 48-INCH PYTHONS MATE AND SHE SOLD OUT OPERA MANY TIMES MATE! SHE ALSO SOLD OUT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN MATE! THE TOKYO DOME MATE! SHE AND ALL OF HER KIDMANIACS ARE GOING TO THE PROMISED LAND MATE! WHATCHA GONNA DO MATE WHEN KIDMAN AND THE KIDMANIACS RUN WILD ON YOU!
Black and Brown actresses who deserve AFI recognition (how we're in 2022 and NONE have been honored is just...so typical):
Angela Bassett
Whoopi Goldberg
Queen Latifah
Rita Moreno
They let Cicely die. They let Diahann Carroll die. They let Lena Horne die. All honorable.