Nicole Kidman Talks Working With 19 Female Directors Since 2017 Goal

If it feels like you’ve seen a lot of Nicole Kidman on screen lately, that’s for a good reason.

In addition to her seminal AMC Theaters ad, the Oscar winner has worked in some capacity with female filmmakers on at least 19 occasions since 2017, long surpassing her goal to work with a woman director every 18 months since the height of the #MeToo movement.

Noting to Time that first-time female directors are saddled with the undue pressure to “be perfect” in their debut outings, Kidman said, “It can be changed, but it can only be changed by actually being in the films of women.”

Last year, Kidman recalled making the 2017 declaration, telling Deadline, “It was at a press conference in Cannes where I said, ‘From now on every 18 months, I will work with a female director.’ And then I went, ’18? That’s too long,’ in my head. So, the declaration was 18 months, but I knew in my head it would be every six months to a year.”

“Realizing it is just you’ve got to roll up your sleeves and do it,” added Kidman. “And that requires not being precious and just going, ‘OK, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.’ And being consistent and determined to do it. And then the other side of making the statement is make it publicly, hold yourself accountable and get it done.”

Kidman most recently worked with writer-director Halina Reijn on last year’s erotic thriller Babygirl, following roles in Vicky Jensen and Jorge Blanco’s Spellbound (2024) and Karyn Kusama’s Destroyer (2018), as well as Mimi Cave’s upcoming thriller Holland, premiering next month at SXSW.

During the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where Kidman initially made the pledge, she told Deadline, “I’m in a place, at this stage in my life, where I can support female directors over and over again. It’s a very conscious choice. I’m not gonna go for two or three years without working with a woman. I will seek them out and will continue to do it because that’s part of what I feel is important right now.”