Nicole Kidman & 'The Paper Boy:' 'I Just Didn't Feel It Was Right' To Use The 'N-Word' For Lee Daniels' Film, Actress Says
Nicole Kidman was willing to take risks in her new film "The Paperboy," but there was one thing director Lee Daniels could not convince her to do - use the "N-word."
Daniels asked Kidman to use the racial slur in the movie, which also stars Zac Efron and John Cusack as two brothers investigating the case of a death row inmate. But as Daniels told reporters during a press conference on Wednesday, Oct. 3, Kidman wouldn't budge.
"I asked her to use the 'N' word," Daniels said. "I could feel the racial tension there in the town. She said, 'I won't do it.' I told my producer, 'She won't do it!' Then he mapped it out - 'Lee, day one she is on a washing machine, day two she is urinating on Zac Efron, day three she's having telepathic sex ... I think you can forgive her."
Kidman explained that while she understands her job is to bring a director's vision to life, she just did not feel right using the word and couldn't find the motivation within her character to say it.
"I just didn't feel it was right for the character," she said. "I have a son [Connor Cruise] who is African American. I just didn't feel like it was right. What I try to do as an actor is fulfill a director's vision. I have opinions, but at the same time I'm not there to stop him from anything. I've really tried to do that in every film. I never want to pull them off their vision."
Kidman also recently opened up about her divorce from Tom Cruise and the depression that she struggled with following the couple's separation.
"I got married really fast and really young," Kidman told the Australian magazine Who."But I don't regret that because it got me [my children] Bella and Connor and I did have a fantastic marriage for a long period. Then when it didn't work out I had to really dig deep and find my way through depression. I have no regrets about all of it. It was all part of growing up."
