Nicole Kidman’s ‘Moulin Rouge!’ performance came with more pain than fans may have realized.
The actress earned her first Oscar nomination for the 2001 Baz Luhrmann musical, playing Satine opposite Ewan McGregor’s Christian. But according to a new oral history published by ‘The Guardian’ for the film’s 25th anniversary, Kidman pushed through cracked ribs, a re-injured rib and a badly hurt ankle while making the movie.
Luhrmann praised her commitment, saying, “She owned the role. She worked so hard on her vocals and dancing.”
Nicole Kidman’s Rib Injury Got Worse On Set
Kidman’s first major injury happened during one of the film’s most memorable sequences.
In her first scene, Satine descends from the ceiling on a swing. Luhrmann said Kidman wanted audiences to know it was really her doing the moment. “She said, ‘You need to believe that it’s me,’” Luhrmann recalled. “We rigged her up, and she had a harness.” Then she cracked a rib.
Catherine Martin, the film’s associate producer, production designer, co-costume designer, and Luhrmann’s wife, said the team was not totally sure how the first break happened. “We’re not quite sure how the first cracked rib happened,” Martin said.
Kidman returned to work quickly, but the costume made things worse. “Her doctors, who were there, were saying, ‘The corset will be great,’” Martin recalled. “When we were lacing her in tightly, we broke her rib again.”
Kidman Also Hurt Her Ankle During Filming
The rib injury was not the only problem. Luhrmann said Kidman later slipped while filming a scene that required her to come down a staircase.
“Nicole had this moment where she had to come down the stairs. She slipped,” he said. “There’s a scene where she’s in a wheelchair because she’d really busted her ankle.” He added that Kidman was “on crutches for a bit.” “It wasn’t easy but she is the definition of a trouper,” Luhrmann said.
Kidman spoke about the rib injury in a 2000 interview with ‘Entertainment Tonight,’ saying it shocked her because she had never broken a bone before. “I kept dancing,” she said. “I didn’t realize I’d even broken it for five days. I thought I’d pulled a muscle.” She joked that she was “doing things in a corset that no woman would ever have done in the 1890s.”
‘Moulin Rouge!’ Became A Career Milestone
Kidman and McGregor also had to perform while strapped into harnesses on top of a 60-foot elephant set. “They had to do all that singing in the air,” Luhrmann said. “Props to Ewan and Nicole for fearlessly running around out there with this stunt.”
Despite the injuries, ‘Moulin Rouge!’ became one of Kidman’s defining roles. The film made more than $170 million at the box office and earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Kidman. It won two Oscars, for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. Kidman later won her first Oscar for 2002’s ‘The Hours.’ The movie also became a Broadway musical, opening in 2019 and scheduled to close this August.
For Kidman, ‘Moulin Rouge!’ was not just a glamorous musical. It was a physically punishing shoot that left her injured, working through pain and still delivering one of the most famous performances of her career.
