Anti-smoking campaigners said the Oscar-winning actor
was one of Australia's greatest success stories who,
as a role model for young women, has a duty to not promote the habit.
"We accept that Nicole Kidman has a right to smoke,
but with celebrity comes a responsibility to avoid
promoting lethal and addictive products to young
people," said Anne Jones, of the Action on Smoking
and Health group in Australia.
"Mass media coverage of celebrity smokers, like
Nicole Kidman, is priceless for the tobacco industry
in their drive to addict new smokers, most of whom
are children," Jones said in a statement.
The flame-haired actress is seen as the favourite to win the top female award on March 23 for playing
troubled writer Virginia Woolf in "The Hours" after already winning Britain's BAFTA best actress gong and
a Golden Globe.
Australians, full of praise for their leading lady, have gone into Kidman-overdrive, with the actress
splashed across the front page of almost all women's and celebrity magazines on newsstands and tabloid
newspapers tagging her every move.
A betting agency has handled a flurry of gamblers expecting Kidman to be first past the post and online
auction site eBay has reported a rush of Kidman items available as demand rises with more than 900 items
now listed.
But Kidman, who just missed out on a Oscar last year
for the musical "Moulin Rouge," is not confident she will be taking the golden statuette home, saying she
takes nothing for granted.
"I would never gamble on myself so I don't know, I really don't know," Kidman told reporters recently
when asked how she rated her chances.
"There's a strong category of women this year
nominated and it is just lovely to be nominated."
Although 35-year-old Kidman is staying calm about the
awards, her fellow countrymen are revelling in her Tinseltown fame with few Australians ever reaching
Hollywood's dizzy A-list.
BETTING RACE
The false nose she dons to become Virginia Woolf has,
A float in Sydney's colourful Gay and Lesbian Mardi
The Alice Springs-based Centrebet agency said Kidman
"Kidman is a very popular girl right now, in this country and with punters overseas," Centrebet's
He said the agency was paying out A$1.50 for a A$1
Seven of the past eight winners of the SAG award went on to claim the Oscar, including Halle Berry (news)
However Daffy said Kidman remained the favourite in the Oscar field for best actress with the agency
John Clark, director at Australia's prestigious drama
"It would inspire everyone to greater confidence in
Born in Honolulu where her father, a biochemist, was
She began acting as a teenager, landing roles in
But she ascended to Hollywood royalty in 1990 when she married megastar Tom Cruise (news), with the
However their 11-year marriage ended bitterly two
This has made Kidman wary about people prying into
Dodging questions about her love life, Kidman said
But despite the personal rollercoaster, Kidman's
This year she became only the fourth Australian to be
She is reportedly receiving US$25 million for a new
Kidman's new movie, "The Human Stain," with Anthony
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for once, stolen the headlines from Australia's other top celebrity asset -- Pop Princess Kylie Minogue
(news)'s much-lauded bottom.
Gras parade last month even dedicated a whole float to "Nic's honker," with about 15 drag queens in Woolf
dresses with cardboard noses.
was easy favourite for the Oscars (news - web sites) with Australian and overseas gamblers so far putting
A$300,000 ($180,000) on the awards.
Gerard Daffy told Reuters.
bet on Kidman although this had risen from A$1.35 before Oscar rival Renee Zellweger (news) won best
actress at the Screen Actors Guild (news - web sites) (SAG) awards this month for her performance in the
musical "Chicago."
who beat Kidman last year.
paying out A$2.60 for a A$1 punt on Zellweger, A$5.50 for Julianne Moore (news) ("Far From Heaven"), A$21
for Diane Lane (news) ("Unfaithful) and A$34 for Salma Hayek (news) ("Frida").
school, the National Institute of Dramatic ACTG (NIDA), told Reuters a win for Kidman would be
deserved and a national victory.
our own skills and own ability as we're a country that has for many years endured a cultural cringe,"
Clark told Reuters.
studying for a time, Kidman was raised in Sydney.
several Australian films, but it was a 1986 television miniseries, "Vietnam," that made her a
star at home and she hit international attention in
the 1989 thriller "Dead Calm" with Billy Zane (news.
glamorous pair becoming one of Hollywood's most visible couples, adopting two children, Isabella and
Connor, along the way.
years ago when Cruise dumped Kidman for his "Vanilla
Sky" co-star Penelope Cruz (news), with the break-up and Kidman's subsequent miscarriage played and
replayed in excruciating detail in the gossip pages.
her private life.
her mother Janelle and father Anthony would be her dates on Oscar night when she'll wear a dress
designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier.
Hollywood career has flourished over the past few years on the back of a string of hits, with the
actress praised for her roles in Moulin Rouge (2001),
Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Batman Forever (1995).
honoured with a star on the Hollywood's prestigious
Walk of Fame and is now one of Hollywood's highest-paid woman.
spy drama with Brad Pitt (news), "Mr and Mrs Smith," in which they play a married couple who are assassins
hired to kill each other.
Hopkins (news), will be released soon.
She has also made "Dogville" by director Lars von Trier (news)
and "Cold Mountain" with British actor Jude Law
(news). (US$1 = A$1.65) Reuters/Variety
