by Nathaniel R
Nicole Kidman's first dramatic closeup in a movie. Her mother has just told her no in Bush Christmas (1983)This season's best actress race is a quintet of considerable fame. We have three previous Oscar winners (Nicole Kidman, Olivia Colman, Penélope Cruz), a multiple nominee (Jessica Chastain) and a first timer though she's been globally famous for over a decade (Kristen Stewart). All five are in demand and oft-celebrated. We thought it would be fun to look at their very first movies long before superstardom happened which was the impetus for this four part "introducing" series (you've already witnessed Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress).
How were these now acclaimed actresses introduced to audiences? Let's take them in chronological order of their official debuts after the jump...
NICOLE KIDMAN as "Helen" in Bush Christmas (1983)
The first shot of Nicole Kidman on a movie screen
First line in a movie: "He'll win, I know he will!"
Nicole Kidman made her film debut at just 16 in the Aussie film Bush Christmas (a remake of another Aussie film). The holiday film is about a family in danger of losing their farm. She and her screen siblings pin their dreams on the family horse winning a race for prize money. There's not that much evidence here that she'd go on to be one of the greatest screen actors of all time but Kidman was instantly well-employed as an actor. By the end of that same year Kidman had a regular part on a tv series and also played the female lead in the action comedy BMX Bandits. She hasn't slowed down since, working mostly in film but moonlighting on TV (especially lately) and the stage every once in a while. (She shared her introducing title card with the indigenous actor, Manalpuy, who is riding the horse in this first scene above but he never appeared in another film.)
PENÉLOPE CRUZ as "la hija de puta" in Jamon Jamon (1992)
first shot of Penelope Cruz in a movie
first title card, 5th billed though it's the leading role
first line in a movie: "Dad, what is going on? Mom will be here any minute."
Cruz was paired with her future husband Javier Bardem for her debut, Bigas Luna's erotic drama Jamon Jamon, when she was just 18. She has the leading role of a young girl in trouble. The mother of the young man that got her pregnant doesn't approve so she hires an underwear model (Bardem) to seduce the girl and protect her son from responsibility. In her first dialogue scene her father comes pounding on the door.
Technically speaking the first shot of Cruz in the movie is not her face, but her hand sewing. Meanwhile Bardem's first shot is his crotch in closeup; Bodies first but oh what faces!
Fun collaborative facts: This film is (gorgeously) shot by Jose Luis Alcaine who had just started his off and on collaboration with Almodóvar via Women on the Verge and Tie Me Up Tie Me Down!. Alcaine would shoot Cruz's first two movies but they wouldn't be reunited for a third time until Almodóvar's Volver (2006). Cruz and Bardem, co-stars for her debut, would later make their first Almodóvar together (1998's Live Flesh) though they didn't share any scenes for that one and Cruz would become a regular and Bardem wouldn't. The Spanish superstars didn't become an offscreen couple until they were romantically paired again for Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008).
KRISTEN STEWART as "Sam Jennings" in The Safety of Objects (2001)
The first shot of Kristen Stewart on a movie screenfirst line in a movie: "She won't if you do it."
At just 11 years old Stewart made her film debut playing the daughter of Patricia Clarkson in this suburban ensemble drama directed by Rose Troche. Troche had previously directed two queer indies, the lesbian classic Go Fish (1994) and the gay comedy Bedrooms and Hallways (1998) but The Safety of Objects proved to be her final feature film for two decades. (Troche just completed a fourth feature but in the two decades since this movie she's mostly been working in episodic television). Stewart had had two uncredited bit parts before this and would, of course go on to global superstardom when she turned 18. But before Twilight it was a nearly consecutive thread of playing onscreen daughters to famous actresses: Patty Clarkson, Jodie Foster, Sharon Stone, Elisabeth Perkins, and Meg Ryan in quick succession in the Aughts! Shortly after Twilight she wrapped up this fun sidebar within her career, playing Julianne Moore's daughter in the acclaimed Still Alice (2014).
OLIVIA COLMAN as "TV producer" in Zemanovaload (2005)
first shot of Olivia Colman in a movie
first line in a film: "There is a lot of anger in your writing, John."
Colman began her screen career on British television in 2000 and appeared in several series before making her first movie when she was 30. [UPDATE:] Though we couldn't locate this film, Luke, in the comments had a copy so he sent us the image above. Thank you, Luke. Colman has just one scene as a TV Producer. She isn't named in the film. Luke says she plays the scene very deadpan and hires the writer she's interviewing despite telling him that his work isn't "the stuff of primetime TV family viewing". [/UPDATE] Colman continued to appear on various TV series and in indie movies, usually as comic relief -- Her first major feature film role was as a nudist in the mockumentary Confetti (2006). Her breakthrough role came at 37 when she won ecstatic reviews as a domestic abuse victim in Tyrannosaur (2011). Much bigger projects, much greater fame, and plenty of trophies followed. We had the pleasure of interviewing her in 2012 and asked her about some of the early roles.
JESSICA CHASTAIN as "Jolene" in Jolene (2008)
first movie, first title card, and she actually got the "introducing" tag that movies don't use enough!
The first shot of Jessica Chastain on a movie screen
The opening scene is her wedding (her character is only 15 though the actress was 30)
First line in a movie: "I married Mickey Holler when I was 15."
Though it felt like Chastain sprung to life as an instant in-demand / Oscar-nominated movie star in 2011 with not one but SEVEN movies either released or debuting at festivals (two of them, The Help and The Tree of Life, landed in the Best Picture race), that wasn't quite the case. We interviewed her during that explosive 'debut' year and she said "I don't think this is a normal year for an actor." An understatement! She had actually been working for a few years already and it was the vagaries of distribution that lumped all of her early films together like that. Her very first was an indie called Jolene. She narrates that tale chirpily despite the dark subject matter. Within a few lines of narration she's already admitted to being frequently sexually abused by foster parents. In otherwords this film arguably prophesied her future gift at playing spirited women with sad undertows. That specific skill came in handy again this year for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, for which she received her third Oscar nomination. In her debut film she's a teen orphan travelling the country. Jolene poked around film festivals for a couple of years but gave her her first taste of acclaim, winning Best Actress at the Seattle International Film Festival.
Do you think any of these actresses suspected what rich filmographies were ahead of them while making these pictures? Who are you rooting for in Best Actress?