Winning an award means nothing without someone to share it with, Nicole Kidman said.
The 50-year-old actress was a double winner in September at the 2017 Emmys, for producing and starring in the HBO mini-series Big Little Lies alongside Reese Witherspoon. "I was so glad to win the two Emmys, because I have [two] daughters," Kidman said on CBS' The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last night. "It was amazing to take home two and go, 'You get one each.'"
Kidman received her an Academy Award 15 years ago for her role in The Hours. While it's undoubtedly a major achievement for any actress, for Kidman, it was a bittersweet moment. "When I won my Oscar, I was not in a great place in my life. I didn't have a partner to share it with," said Kidman, who at the time had recently left Tom Cruise. "I was flailing, emotionally and personally. So, to win and Emmy and be in love and have my family…It's amazing." After she won the Oscar, she recalled, "I was alone. I sort of ordered some room service, and that was it—which I know is like, 'Oh.'" Kidman, who wed Keith Urban in 2006, added, "There's something incredible about going home and going, 'Baby! We did it!' And that's what we did."
Big Little Lies was borne out of Kidman and Witherspoon's annoyance with Hollywood.
"For us, this was a situation where we were frustrated, both Reese and I, at the things we were being offered. So, we were able to go, 'There's this great book [by Liane Moriarty] and we should option it. We should see if we can get it made and create some great roles for ourselves and our friends,'" Kidman recalled. "Suddenly, the whole thing snowballed, and it was one of those things where within a year, we were in production of this female-driven drama that took off and was so embraced by the audience." Witherspoon had previously worked with director Jean-Marc Vallée on 2014's Wild, and Kidman said it was "amazing" to finally "get things done."
"To join forces and use our power together is what was really, really fun," she said, adding that it "gave us far more opportunity—and that's a great thing to be telling the younger generation."
Stephen Colbert also asked Kidman about the possibility of a second season, to which the actress replied, "We want to. We're inching our way forward, because we want it to be good."
Kidman added, "It's now moving far more rapidly than six months ago."