Updated May 8, 2023: AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute to Nicole Kidman Postponed. A new date will be announced soon. Learn more.
America’s Highest Honor for a Career in Film to Be Presented at Gala Tribute on June 10, 2023
The American Film Institute (AFI) Board of Trustees announced today that Nicole Kidman will be the recipient of the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film, celebrating her career achievements thus far. The award will be presented to Kidman at a Gala Tribute at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 10, 2023. She is the first Australian actor to receive this honor.
“Nicole Kidman has enchanted audiences for decades with the daring of her artistry and the glamour of a screen icon,” said Kathleen Kennedy, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees. “She is a force both brave in her choices and bold in each performance. AFI is honored to present her with the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award.”
Both a powerhouse performer, spellbinding movie star and accomplished producer, Nicole Kidman has captured the imaginations of audiences around the world throughout her prolific career, delivering complex and versatile performances onscreen. Seamlessly moving between independent and studio films, Kidman has earned a reputation for her extraordinary talent, commitment to her craft and desire to work with auteur filmmakers including Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, Baz Luhrmann, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Aaron Sorkin, Lars von Trier and Stanley Kubrick.
A five-time Academy Award® nominee, Kidman’s wonderfully restrained and transformational turn as Virginia Woolf in THE HOURS earned her the Oscar® for Best Actress in 2003. Following her stunning breakthrough performance in 1989’s DEAD CALM, Kidman has captivated global audiences, from her daring performance as Alice Harford in EYES WIDE SHUT and enchanting Satine in MOULIN ROUGE!, to her raw turn as Grace Margaret Mulligan in DOGVILLE and her enthralling portrayal of Lucille Ball in BEING THE RICARDOS. Throughout her distinguished career, Kidman has won a BAFTA Award, two Emmys® and six Golden Globes – and is widely regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. She co-founded her production company Blossom Films in 2010.
Across film and television, she has delivered remarkably nuanced performances characterized by their unflinching courage, vulnerability and tenacity, with additional acting credits including: DAYS OF THUNDER (1990), FAR AND AWAY (1992), BATMAN FOREVER (1995), TO DIE FOR (1995), THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY (1996), PRACTICAL MAGIC (1998), THE OTHERS (2001), THE HUMAN STAIN (2003), COLD MOUNTAIN (2003), BIRTH (2004), THE INTERPRETER (2005), AUSTRALIA (2008), NINE (2009), RABBIT HOLE (2010), THE PAPERBOY (2012), STOKER (2013), PADDINGTON (2014), QUEEN OF THE DESERT (2015), LION (2016), THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER (2017), THE BEGUILED (2017), THE UPSIDE (2017), BOY ERASED (2018), DESTROYER (2018), AQUAMAN (2018), BOMBSHELL (2019), and THE NORTHMAN (2022). She has also starred in and produced multiple critically acclaimed television programs, including HEMINGWAY & GELLHORN (2012), BIG LITTLE LIES (2017-2019), TOP OF THE LAKE (2017), THE UNDOING (2020), and NINE PERFECT STRANGERS (2021).
In theater, Kidman made a highly-lauded London stage debut in the fall of 1998, starring with Iain Glen in “The Blue Room,” David Hare’s modern adaptation of Schnitzler’s “La Ronde.” For her performance, Kidman won London’s Evening Standard Award and was nominated in the Best Actress category for a Laurence Olivier Award. In 2015, Kidman was seen on the West End stage in Anna Ziegler’s “Photograph 51,” for which she received a London’s Evening Standard Award.
In January of 2006, Kidman was awarded Australia’s highest honor, the Companion of the Order of Australia. She was also awarded the Berlin Film Festival’s Silver Bear award for her performance in THE HOURS. In 2017, the Cannes Film Festival honored Kidman with the 70th Anniversary Prize for her body of work and longstanding history with the festival. She is one of only eight people to ever receive this honor.
Kidman has served as Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women for nearly two decades. Along with her husband, Keith Urban, she has helped raise millions over the years for the Stanford Women’s Cancer Program which is a world-renowned center for research into the causes, treatment, prevention, and eventual cure of women’s cancer.
Kidman’s many upcoming projects include Lulu Wang’s EXPATS for Amazon, AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM for Warner Brothers, LIONESS for Paramount+, and HOLLAND, MICHIGAN for Amazon.
William Ameen
The poor lady needs a vacation.
Not quibbling, but why has one of my favorite actors, Gene Hackman, never been so honored? Has he declined it?
Babsilee
So many actors who deserve to be honored! Example: Barbara Stanwyck never won an Oscar.
John Vega, Esq., MS
Stanwyk won the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in the 1980s…
Jay
Stanwyck received an Honorary Oscar in 1981 and the AFI in 1987.
Chris
Some people are offered but turn it down. Hackman may have been one.
Kathleen Ellerman
Love her range! She can handle anything. So proud to have been an a extra in a movie filmed in our city, Killing of a Sacred Deer, and get to watch her up close. A genuinely nice person!
Juliia
I want to invite
Lynne Sherman
A Great actor, beautiful lady, down to earth person who appreciates her fans.Like. all Australians DOWN TO EARTH and willing to take the challenge of different material regardless of content and how she will look on screen.I meet her once and was surprised with her open Ness, to average people . LIKE All Australians open and real .Congratulations to another tribute to you and your family.!
Robert Hunter
I may just attend!
Charity Ekeke
I usually don’t do this.
She Sure deserves it. She looses herself in a any role she plays. I don’t know her but I feel like I do because she is genuinely a good human being. I am proud of her and happy for her.
Congratulations and Blessings Nicole Kidman!
Victor Villegas
My friend was so surprised to see Nicole Kidman wearing “mom jeans” in acclaimed movie “Lion.” Just goes to prove she’s more devoted to her character than her appearance. Kudos for paying tribute to adoptive parent Sue Brierley with her performance in true story about a young man searching for lost family in India.
Carol Kelly
It could not happen to a more deserved actress. Congratulations.
John Vega
How about Glenn Close or Sissy Spacek or Jessica Lange?
Ac
Carol Burnetts another who deserves this
sam ambrosin
did the “Duke” win this award?
Paul Parker
I was surprised by this choice, only because Kidman seems to still be in her career’s prime in terms of what she has to say as an actress. That said, she is a brilliant actress and fully deserving of this honor. I’m glad to see that AFI is doing a better job of balancing the honorees between men and women; to that point, though…Ellen Burstyn? Sissy Spacek? Jessica Lange? Glenn Close? These actresses are all of the caliber of Kidman with 10-20 years longer in their careers. Just curious how the choice is made. Kidman is a wonderful selection and I’ll be tuning in.
Desert Samuels
Oh that’s a very good point, I thought the same! I expected her to receive this maybe in 10 years. She seems like she’s full steam ahead in her career honestly.
I sure hope Glenn Close or Jessica Lange get their due!
Nonetheless I consider Kidman one of the last great actresses that are considered real starlets. She has that class and mystique of a golden age actress which is so rare today.
Gabriel Padilla
Very well deserved! She is a great actress
Rajesh
She’s done a lot but I think Glenn Close is due for one. Not many actresses have successfully conquered stage, screen and tv.
Damien
She truly deserves this. Her body of work on the last decade itself has shown her growth 10 times more from what she did before. Some of her performances were just awe-inspiring. Kudos to Kidman. Love her always.
Jen
How can someone attend this event? Definitely would like to go.
Jesus Millan Jr
Well Deserved to Nicole Kidman. I still Surprised that Richard Dreyfuss is still had not gotten the Award Yet. Also Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, Sylvester Stallone among others should get the Award!!
Ser
Greetings from Spain I totally agree with the Afl academy I believe it’s a great choice but what a about other actor such Tom cruise,Gene Hackman Jeff bridges they should also have th award they deserve it as much as Nicole thanks
Luka
I don’t understand it. Kidman is a fine actress, but why not honor people who are much older and have had astonishing careers like Glenn Close, Jessica Lange, Ellen Burstyn, and Sally Field?
Luk
I don’t understand it. Kidman is a fine actress, but why not honor people who are much older and have had astonishing careers like Magnificent Glenn Close and Jessica Lange who are on a par with M. Streep and still produce great works, or Ellen Burstyn who is in her 90s, or Sally Field and Sissy Spacek who were icons of the 70-s and 80-s?
Howard
Okay. Granted. An excellent actress. But an extraordinary director like Frances Ford Coppula
has not been honored by the AFI ??
Shocking. Incredible to say the least.
Allan Argonza Puno
Kudos to Nicole Kidman. Her range and versatility are astounding and commendable. One of the truly fine actresses of this generation and still working on generations to come! Brava!!!
AC
Um she was born in Hawaii. She may have moved to Australia and taken out citizenship but she is American born so she’s an American actress.