Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid actresses since the late 1990s. Her accolades include an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and six Golden Globe Awards.

Kidman began her career in Australia with the 1983 films Bush Christmas and BMX Bandits. Her breakthrough came with lead roles in Dead Calm and the miniseries Bangkok Hilton (both 1989). She came to international prominence with a supporting role in Days of Thunder (1990) followed by leading roles in Far and Away (1992), To Die For (1995), Batman Forever (1995), Practical Magic (1998), and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). She received consecutive nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Moulin Rouge! (2001) and The Hours (2002), winning for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in the latter. Her career continued with the box office successes The Others (2001), Cold Mountain (2003), The Golden Compass (2007), Australia (2008), Paddington (2014), and Bombshell (2019) and acclaimed independent films Rabbit Hole (2010) and Lion (2016).

For producing and starring in the HBO series Big Little Lies (2017–2019), Kidman won a Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. She went on to star in further mainstream films such as the biographical dramas Bombshell (2019) and Being the Ricardos (2021), and independent films The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), The Beguiled (2017), The Northman (2022), and Babygirl (2024), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for her performance in the latter. Her other notable roles include the television series Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012), Top of the Lake: China Girl (2017), The Undoing (2020), Nine Perfect Strangers (2021–present), Special Ops: Lioness (2023), Expats (2024), and The Perfect Couple (2024).

Kidman has served as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF since 1994 and UNWomen since 2006. She was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia in 2006. Divorced from actor Tom Cruise and separated from country musician Keith Urban, she has two children from each relationship. In 2010, she founded the production company Blossom Films. In 2004 and 2018, Time included her on its list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2020, The New York Times named her one of the greatest actors of the 21st century. She was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003, and in 2024, became the first Australian actor to receive the AFI Life Achievement Award.

Nicole Mary Kidman was born on 20 June 1967 in Honolulu, Hawaii, while her Australian parents were temporarily in the United States on student visas. Her mother, Janelle Ann (née Glenny), a nursing instructor and member of the Women's Electoral Lobby, edited her husband's books; her father, Antony Kidman, was a biochemist, clinical psychologist, and author. She has a younger sister, Antonia, who is a journalist and television presenter. Having been born in the US to Australian parents, Kidman holds dual Australian and US citizenship. She has English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. Being born in Hawaii, she was given the Hawaiian name "Hōkūlani" ([hoːkuːˈlɐni]), meaning "heavenly star". The inspiration came from a baby elephant born around the same time at the Honolulu Zoo.

When Kidman was born, her father was a graduate student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He became a visiting fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health. While living in Washington, D.C., following Kidman's birth during the Vietnam War, her parents participated in anti-Vietnam War protests. Her family eventually returned to Australia three years later. She grew up in Longueville, Sydney where she attended Lane Cove Public School and North Sydney Girls High School. She was enrolled in ballet at the age of three and showed her natural talent for acting during her primary and high school years.

Kidman has said she first aspired to become an actress upon watching Margaret Hamilton's performance as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. She revealed that she was timid as a child, saying, "I am very shy – really shy – I even had a stutter as a kid, which I slowly got over, but I still regress into that shyness. So I don't like walking into a crowded restaurant by myself; I don't like going to a party by myself." During her teenage years, she attended the Phillip Street Theatre, alongside fellow actress Naomi Watts, and the Australian Theatre for Young People, where she took up drama and mime as she found acting to be a refuge. Owing to her fair skin and naturally red hair, the sun drove her to rehearse in the halls of the theatre. A regular at the Phillip Street Theatre, she was encouraged to pursue acting full-time, which she did by dropping out of high school.

In 1983, 16-year-old Kidman made her film debut in a remake of the Australian holiday classic Bush Christmas. By the end of that year, she had a supporting role in the television series Five Mile Creek. In 1984, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, which caused Kidman to halt her acting work temporarily while she studied massage therapy to help her mother with physical therapy. She began gaining recognition during this decade after appearing in several Australian films, such as the action comedy BMX Bandits (1983) and the romantic comedy Windrider (1986). Throughout the rest of the 1980s, she appeared in various Australian television programs, including the 1987 miniseries Vietnam, for which she won her first Australian Film Institute Award.