by Nathaniel R
This just in. The goddess Nicole Kidman will receive what the AFI calls "The Highest Honor in American Cinema" next summer. That honor is the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. She'll be the first Australian so honored. Take that Cate Blanchett! She's also only the 11th actress they've ever honored in this way...
The ceremony will be held on June 10th, 2023 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Kathleen Kennedy, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees says the following about the silver screen giant:
Nicole Kidman has enchanted audiences for decades with the daring of her artistry and the glamour of a screen icon. She is a force both brave in her choices and bold in each performance.”
The only actresses who have previously been so honored are...
- Bette Davis (1977) -prevously 2 Oscars, and the Cecil B DeMille at the Globes
- Lillian Gish (1984) -previously 1 Honorary Oscar
- Barbara Stanwyck (1987) -previously 1 Honorary Oscar, SAG Lifetime Achievement, and Cecil B DeMille at the Globes
- Elizabeth Taylor (1993) -previously 2 Oscars, 1 Honorary Oscar and the Cecil B DeMille at the Globes
- Barbra Streisand (2001) -previously 2 Oscars and the Cecil B DeMille at the Globes
- Meryl Streep (2004) -previously 2 Oscars
- Shirley Maclaine (2012) -previously 1 Oscar and the Cecil B DeMille at the Globes
- Jane Fonda (2014) -previously 2 Oscars
- Diane Keaton (2017) -previously 1 Oscar
- Julie Andrews (2022) -previously 1 Oscar and the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award
The AFI isn't exactly influencing the conversation on the GOATS -- just following where Oscar and sometimes the SAG or the Globes lead -- but it's still a sweet and fairly rare honor. It's coming surprisingly early in her career. Kidman is only 55, the second youngest woman to win this award after Streep at 54 years of age. Barbra Streisand was the only other 50something to win, the rest being 60 and above.
CONGRATULATIONS TO NICOLE KIDMAN!
P.S. We love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love Nicole but next time around they should shake things up by honoring a woman the Academy has undervalued. Michelle Pfeiffer, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, and Sigourney Weaver all totally qualify as screen icons of American cinema. None of those choices would require even a teensy bit of bravery but at least they might shift the conversation a bit in that they'd be going somewhere Oscar hasn't yet gone!