The Strange Thing Nicole Kidman Did After Shooting A Scene In The Prom
In the recent Netflix original The Prom, Nicole Kidman is returning to her roots. The movie musical, released in December, stars Kidman alongside Meryl Streep, James Corden, and Andrew Rannell as a crew of Broadway stars who travel to a small town in Indiana to support a gay teen whose desire to take her girlfriend to the prom leads to trouble with the Parent-Teacher Association.
The film is a feel-good story perfect for the holiday season, and it stars newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman as Emma, the teen in question who's more surprised than anyone to find herself sharing an experience with four Broadway stars that she'll never forget. Just like her character, filming The Prom was a new experience for Pellman, who hadn't acted in a feature film until landing the Netflix role.
In a new interview with Glamour, Pellman opened up about what it was like working with legends like Streep and Kidman, and described Kidman as a "fearless" performer, who showed her dedication to the performance by doing an awfully strange thing on set. "Nicole is fearless," Pellman said. "I will never forget when we were shooting a scene where we're eating ice cream — she scooped up some ice cream with her hand and just ate it ... Every single take, she goes all in. We were dancing on stairs in heels and it was slippery, and she still just gave it her all. She has the most incredible work ethic. Because of Nicole, we didn't stop rehearsing until we absolutely nailed it."
The Prom isn't Nicole Kidman's first time in a movie musical
When it comes to movie musicals, Nicole Kidman is no rookie. She starred in Moulin Rouge! in 2001, one of the movie musicals you need to watch right now. Her role in that film landed her a Golden Globe win and an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, in addition to other accolades. But while Kidman may seem like a natural, it may be awhile before we see her take another musical job.
In a recent interview with German outlet Goldene Kamera, Kidman explained the physical toll such roles have on her. "I'm not sure I want to dance and sing on-screen," she explained. "It takes so much work, I don't think people realize. You know, for me, it's not the thing I do foremost, so it requires an enormous amount of work. And, I think, because I hadn't done it for so long, it was terrifying." She went on to explain how Fosse dancing, a style of dance made popular by legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, is "an art unto itself," rendered especially challenging because she only had six weeks to rehearse.
In The Prom, Kidman stars as Angie Dickinson, a chorus girl and perpetual understudy who, despite her years-long career and solid reputation, has never been able to step into the spotlight in the way that she's dreamed of. In a Chicago-inspired song-and-dance number called ZAZZ, Dickenson tries to help Emma find her confidence and explains that "zazz" is the act of adding in a little extra spice to whatever you do. In her performance, Kidman does just that.