Aussie Love
Kidman moves to Sydney with her parents, Dr. Anthony Kidman, a biologist and psychologist, and Janelle, a nurse. She delights in her new surroundings. "There's something about the place," she later says in a Time article. "It's the smell of the gum leaves. Australia's in my blood, it's in my humor ...I love [Sydney's] zest for life and the openness of us Aussies." 1983
Nicole Kidman
Best Mates
The aspiring actress meets Naomi Watts at an open call for a bikini ad, and Watts becomes a close friend and confidante. "We had to sit and wait, both in swimsuits, feeling incredibly embarrassed," Watts recalls to PEOPLE. "And neither of us got the job!" In 1991, they appear together in Flirting, also starring Thandie Newton.
Nicole Kidman
December Large and Small Screen
Local theater gigs help 16-year-old Kidman land a role in the 1983 teen crime caper movie, BMX Bandits. At the same time, Kidman appears in the television movie, Bush Christmas, which becomes a holiday classic in Australia, airing every December. By the end of the year, Kidman is one of the most famous faces in Australia. 1989
Nicole Kidman
April 07 Calm Before the Tom
Kidman lands the lead role in the sea thriller Dead Calm, also starring Sam Neill and Billy Zane. The film is a modest hit but wins her recognition in the U.S. After seeing Kidman in Dead Calm, Tom Cruise creates a role for her in Days of Thunder as his love interest. When she meets him at the audition, "He took my breath away," Kidman later tells Rolling Stone. 1990
Nicole Kidman
December 24 I Do
Kidman marries Cruise in Telluride, Colo., with self-written marital vows. Emilio Estevez is the best man and Kidman's sister Antonia, a television-entertainment reporter, is a bridesmaid. 1992
Nicole Kidman
May 22 Labor of Love
Five months after getting married, the newlyweds begin work on Far and Away, a critically acclaimed film but a box office failure. For Kidman, acting alongside her superstar husband entangles her public persona with Cruise's. "I didn't realize when I made Far and Away how much I would then be defined and judged in relation to him," she tells the Boston Globe.1993
Nicole Kidman
January 22 Baby Makes Three, Then Four
Cruise, 30, and Kidman, 25, announce the adoption of a baby they name Isabella Jane Kidman Cruise. Two years later, in February 1995, Kidman and Cruise adopt son Connor Antony Kidman Cruise, who was born in January.1995
Nicole Kidman
September 27 Golden Girl
In Gus Van Sant's To Die For, Kidman shines as murderous TV weatherwoman Suzanne Maretto. "Even though Suzanne's totally wild and has a completely different moral code from the rest of us, I think there was something really cool about her," Kidman tells Time. She gets rave reviews and wins her first Golden Globe award.1996
Nicole Kidman
Novemeber The Eyes Have It
Kidman and Cruise begin a 19-month shoot (November 1996 to June 1998) on Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Although success eluded them the last time they worked together, they find this script irresistible. "In your life there are certain times when it's the right time to work together," Kidman later tells PEOPLE at the film's L.A. premiere in 1999. "Who knows when the next time will be?"1998
Nicole Kidman
September Truly Blue
Kidman makes headlines around the world with her London stage debut in The Blue Room, with one British theater critic dubbing her brief nudity "pure theatrical Viagra."
Kidman moves to Sydney with her parents, Dr. Anthony Kidman, a biologist and psychologist, and Janelle, a nurse. She delights in her new surroundings. "There's something about the place," she later says in a Time article. "It's the smell of the gum leaves. Australia's in my blood, it's in my humor ...I love [Sydney's] zest for life and the openness of us Aussies." 1983
Nicole Kidman
Best Mates
The aspiring actress meets Naomi Watts at an open call for a bikini ad, and Watts becomes a close friend and confidante. "We had to sit and wait, both in swimsuits, feeling incredibly embarrassed," Watts recalls to PEOPLE. "And neither of us got the job!" In 1991, they appear together in Flirting, also starring Thandie Newton.
Nicole Kidman
December Large and Small Screen
Local theater gigs help 16-year-old Kidman land a role in the 1983 teen crime caper movie, BMX Bandits. At the same time, Kidman appears in the television movie, Bush Christmas, which becomes a holiday classic in Australia, airing every December. By the end of the year, Kidman is one of the most famous faces in Australia. 1989
Nicole Kidman
April 07 Calm Before the Tom
Kidman lands the lead role in the sea thriller Dead Calm, also starring Sam Neill and Billy Zane. The film is a modest hit but wins her recognition in the U.S. After seeing Kidman in Dead Calm, Tom Cruise creates a role for her in Days of Thunder as his love interest. When she meets him at the audition, "He took my breath away," Kidman later tells Rolling Stone. 1990
Nicole Kidman
December 24 I Do
Kidman marries Cruise in Telluride, Colo., with self-written marital vows. Emilio Estevez is the best man and Kidman's sister Antonia, a television-entertainment reporter, is a bridesmaid. 1992
Nicole Kidman
May 22 Labor of Love
Five months after getting married, the newlyweds begin work on Far and Away, a critically acclaimed film but a box office failure. For Kidman, acting alongside her superstar husband entangles her public persona with Cruise's. "I didn't realize when I made Far and Away how much I would then be defined and judged in relation to him," she tells the Boston Globe.1993
Nicole Kidman
January 22 Baby Makes Three, Then Four
Cruise, 30, and Kidman, 25, announce the adoption of a baby they name Isabella Jane Kidman Cruise. Two years later, in February 1995, Kidman and Cruise adopt son Connor Antony Kidman Cruise, who was born in January.1995
Nicole Kidman
September 27 Golden Girl
In Gus Van Sant's To Die For, Kidman shines as murderous TV weatherwoman Suzanne Maretto. "Even though Suzanne's totally wild and has a completely different moral code from the rest of us, I think there was something really cool about her," Kidman tells Time. She gets rave reviews and wins her first Golden Globe award.1996
Nicole Kidman
Novemeber The Eyes Have It
Kidman and Cruise begin a 19-month shoot (November 1996 to June 1998) on Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Although success eluded them the last time they worked together, they find this script irresistible. "In your life there are certain times when it's the right time to work together," Kidman later tells PEOPLE at the film's L.A. premiere in 1999. "Who knows when the next time will be?"1998
Nicole Kidman
September Truly Blue
Kidman makes headlines around the world with her London stage debut in The Blue Room, with one British theater critic dubbing her brief nudity "pure theatrical Viagra."
December Injured on Set
Kidman breaks a rib and tears cartilage in her knee while filming the musical Moulin Rouge! "I had to do these kicks down the stairs in incredibly high heels," she tells In Style, "and I slipped, and continued to dance all that night. And worked for three more weeks on it. I just shredded it." 2001
Nicole Kidman
February 07 Shocking News
Six weeks after celebrating their 10-year wedding anniversary, Cruise files for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Kidman is taken totally by surprise. "Nicole is not upset," a friend tells PEOPLE. "She is devastated." Cryptically, Cruise tells a source on the set of Minority Report that "Nic knows exactly why we are getting the divorce," providing fodder for much speculation. In April, Kidman suffers a miscarriage that sparks chatter of her cheating, but she denies any infidelity and friends insist Cruise was the father.
August 08 It's Final
The Kidman-Cruise divorce is finalized. From a combined estate of $350 million, Kidman keeps the couple's $4.3 million home in Pacific Palisades and a house in Sydney worth $4 million. Cruise keeps the 280-acre estate in Telluride, Colo., and his airplanes, including a $100,000 Pitts S-2B, a $1.2 million Beech F90 and a $28 million-plus Gulfstream IV jet. All other details of the settlement are sealed. Kidman and Cruise share custody of the children.
Nicole Kidman
December Alone and on Top
Entertainment Weekly names Kidman Entertainer of the Year for her "stamina, her resilience and her talent, her ability to bewitch and surprise us with every new performance, and her constant fight to exceed all expectations – including her own." In 2002, Kidman will top PEOPLE's annual 50 Most Beautiful list, a choice managing editor Martha Nelson calls a "natural one." In 2007, she makes her eighth appearance on the annual list. 2002
Nicole Kidman
July 15 Cold Call Time
In Romania, Kidman begins working on Cold Mountain, which also stars Renée Zellweger, Natalie Portman and Jude Law. Kidman's portrayal of a Southern belle in the epic Civil War romance earns her another Golden Globe nomination. 2003
Nicole Kidman
March 23 Kidman's Oscar Win
Kidman wins the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours, a role that had her wearing a prosthetic nose and made her virtually unrecognizable. When Kidman's name is called, "I just went blank," she tells PEOPLE. "Everything I had thought in my head that I might say was gone. Gone. I couldn't think of anyone's names. Nothing. It was terrifying, and my hands started to shake."
Nicole Kidman
September 29 A Rockin' New Love
After she is seen with Lenny Kravitz all summer in Manhattan, Kidman announces that she is indeed dating the rocker. "They're very close," spokeswoman Leslee Dart says to PEOPLE. "He's very important to her." A ring on one of Kidman's left fingers sparks engagement rumors, but her rep says, "I think it's a ring she [already] had." The relationship does not last.
Nicole Kidman
October 14 Channeling Chanel
Kidman wins a libel suit against a British tabloid that suggested she had an on-set affair with Jude Law during filming of Cold Mountain. This same month Kidman becomes the new face of Chanel No. 5 and stars in a four-minute commercial for which she is paid $3.71 million per minute, more than any other star. 2005
January Meeting Urban
Kidman meets country singer Keith Urban at a dinner in L.A. honoring Australians. Urban's rep tells PEOPLE: "They are friends, and no, they are not dating."2006
Nicole Kidman
May 16 Kidman's Fiancé
After Urban and Kidman attend the Grammys together, Kidman hosts the 30th Anniversary gala for UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women), where she serves as Goodwill Ambassador, in New York City. She brings Urban who turns out to be more than her boyfriend. "He's actually my fiancé," Kidman tells PEOPLE exclusively.
Kidman breaks a rib and tears cartilage in her knee while filming the musical Moulin Rouge! "I had to do these kicks down the stairs in incredibly high heels," she tells In Style, "and I slipped, and continued to dance all that night. And worked for three more weeks on it. I just shredded it." 2001
Nicole Kidman
February 07 Shocking News
Six weeks after celebrating their 10-year wedding anniversary, Cruise files for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Kidman is taken totally by surprise. "Nicole is not upset," a friend tells PEOPLE. "She is devastated." Cryptically, Cruise tells a source on the set of Minority Report that "Nic knows exactly why we are getting the divorce," providing fodder for much speculation. In April, Kidman suffers a miscarriage that sparks chatter of her cheating, but she denies any infidelity and friends insist Cruise was the father.
August 08 It's Final
The Kidman-Cruise divorce is finalized. From a combined estate of $350 million, Kidman keeps the couple's $4.3 million home in Pacific Palisades and a house in Sydney worth $4 million. Cruise keeps the 280-acre estate in Telluride, Colo., and his airplanes, including a $100,000 Pitts S-2B, a $1.2 million Beech F90 and a $28 million-plus Gulfstream IV jet. All other details of the settlement are sealed. Kidman and Cruise share custody of the children.
Nicole Kidman
December Alone and on Top
Entertainment Weekly names Kidman Entertainer of the Year for her "stamina, her resilience and her talent, her ability to bewitch and surprise us with every new performance, and her constant fight to exceed all expectations – including her own." In 2002, Kidman will top PEOPLE's annual 50 Most Beautiful list, a choice managing editor Martha Nelson calls a "natural one." In 2007, she makes her eighth appearance on the annual list. 2002
Nicole Kidman
July 15 Cold Call Time
In Romania, Kidman begins working on Cold Mountain, which also stars Renée Zellweger, Natalie Portman and Jude Law. Kidman's portrayal of a Southern belle in the epic Civil War romance earns her another Golden Globe nomination. 2003
Nicole Kidman
March 23 Kidman's Oscar Win
Kidman wins the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours, a role that had her wearing a prosthetic nose and made her virtually unrecognizable. When Kidman's name is called, "I just went blank," she tells PEOPLE. "Everything I had thought in my head that I might say was gone. Gone. I couldn't think of anyone's names. Nothing. It was terrifying, and my hands started to shake."
Nicole Kidman
September 29 A Rockin' New Love
After she is seen with Lenny Kravitz all summer in Manhattan, Kidman announces that she is indeed dating the rocker. "They're very close," spokeswoman Leslee Dart says to PEOPLE. "He's very important to her." A ring on one of Kidman's left fingers sparks engagement rumors, but her rep says, "I think it's a ring she [already] had." The relationship does not last.
Nicole Kidman
October 14 Channeling Chanel
Kidman wins a libel suit against a British tabloid that suggested she had an on-set affair with Jude Law during filming of Cold Mountain. This same month Kidman becomes the new face of Chanel No. 5 and stars in a four-minute commercial for which she is paid $3.71 million per minute, more than any other star. 2005
January Meeting Urban
Kidman meets country singer Keith Urban at a dinner in L.A. honoring Australians. Urban's rep tells PEOPLE: "They are friends, and no, they are not dating."2006
Nicole Kidman
May 16 Kidman's Fiancé
After Urban and Kidman attend the Grammys together, Kidman hosts the 30th Anniversary gala for UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women), where she serves as Goodwill Ambassador, in New York City. She brings Urban who turns out to be more than her boyfriend. "He's actually my fiancé," Kidman tells PEOPLE exclusively.
An Aussie Good Time
Kidman and Urban tie the knot in a candlelit ceremony at Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel on St. Patrick's Estate at Manly, in Australia. The bride wears a dress by Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga. In addition to family members, Kidman welcomes members of Hollywood's "Aussie Posse" including Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Naomi Watts.
Nicole Kidman
October 19 The Honeymoon is Over
Kidman stands by her husband's side as he checks into a rehabilitation center for alcohol abuse. "I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones that love and support me," Urban says in a statement. "One can never let one's guard down on recovery and I'm afraid that I have." Kidman visits Urban in rehab later in the month and over the holidays he takes a short leave of absence to be with Kidman. The two are reunited when he is released from rehab in January 2007. 2007
Nicole Kidman
October 'I Needed to Get a Life'
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Kidman recounts her attempts to bear a child with Tom Cruise and the loneliness she felt when she won the Best Actress Oscar in 2003: "It felt big. It felt lonely and big. You're in a hotel and you're like, okay well, I'm sitting in this big suite with an Oscar, and I still don't have a life. What is wrong with me? It hit home that I needed to get a life. Who do I jump on the bed with, and celebrate with, and order pancakes with?"2008
January 07 Nicole & Keith Having a Baby
With her biological clock ticking and a history of struggling to have a baby, Kidman is finally pregnant with Urban's first child. "The couple are thrilled," her rep says in a statement. In 2005, before the couple even started dating, Kidman told reporters, "I have got hormones running through my system. That is why I sit wriggling, saying I want to have a baby."
Kidman and Urban tie the knot in a candlelit ceremony at Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel on St. Patrick's Estate at Manly, in Australia. The bride wears a dress by Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga. In addition to family members, Kidman welcomes members of Hollywood's "Aussie Posse" including Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Naomi Watts.
Nicole Kidman
October 19 The Honeymoon is Over
Kidman stands by her husband's side as he checks into a rehabilitation center for alcohol abuse. "I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones that love and support me," Urban says in a statement. "One can never let one's guard down on recovery and I'm afraid that I have." Kidman visits Urban in rehab later in the month and over the holidays he takes a short leave of absence to be with Kidman. The two are reunited when he is released from rehab in January 2007. 2007
Nicole Kidman
October 'I Needed to Get a Life'
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Kidman recounts her attempts to bear a child with Tom Cruise and the loneliness she felt when she won the Best Actress Oscar in 2003: "It felt big. It felt lonely and big. You're in a hotel and you're like, okay well, I'm sitting in this big suite with an Oscar, and I still don't have a life. What is wrong with me? It hit home that I needed to get a life. Who do I jump on the bed with, and celebrate with, and order pancakes with?"2008
January 07 Nicole & Keith Having a Baby
With her biological clock ticking and a history of struggling to have a baby, Kidman is finally pregnant with Urban's first child. "The couple are thrilled," her rep says in a statement. In 2005, before the couple even started dating, Kidman told reporters, "I have got hormones running through my system. That is why I sit wriggling, saying I want to have a baby."
