The Weinstein CompanyNicole Kidman had some explaining to do.
She reveals that daughters Sunday Rose, 6, and Faith, 3, had to be convinced to like the villainous role she plays in the new kids movie Paddington (in theaters on Jan. 16).
"They were very upset at first," Kidman told me while promoting the movie at the Montage in Beverly Hills. "They've now come full circle and now they think the villain is the best character. My six-year-old is always like, 'The villain is the best character.'…She's like me. When I saw the Wizard of Oz, I was completely obsessed with the Wicked Witch. I mean, I like Dorothy, but I found the witch completely mesmerizing."
In fact, the Oscar winner said, "I now see kids after Paddington looking at me sort of kind of hypnotized."
Sunday Rose especially loved the platinum blonde bob wig Kidman wore for her role, an evil taxidermist determined to stuff cute little Paddington.
"My daughter is like, 'Get that wig and bring it home!'" Kidman said.
Her wardrobe also included sky-high stilettos.
"I said, 'You guys can't honestly think I'm going to be on top of a rooftop with those heels on," Kidman said, laughing. "I had to climb up ladders and everything. It was hard."
Directed by Paul King, the cast also includes Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins as the parents of two young children who open their house to Paddington when he arrives in London after his home in the Peruvian forest is destroyed by an earthquake.
Paddington is already a huge hit in the U.K.
"I want to do more kids movies," Kidman said. "But they always have to say something and make people laugh."
Just like Paddington.