Australian-born actress Nicole Kidman won the Volpi Cup for best actress for her role in “Babygirl” at the 81st Venice Film Festival on Saturday, but was unable to receive the award after announcing in a message that her mother had recently died.
“Upon arriving in Venice I learned of the death of my mother Janelle Kidman. I am in shock and I have to meet my family. This award is for them,” the film’s director Halina Reason said emotionally.
“Babygirl” features 57-year-old Kidman in explicit sex scenes with young actor Harris Dickinson (28 years old).
When the film was presented, the star told reporters, “It was liberating.”
“Babygirl” “is a film seen through a woman’s eyes, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t talk about masculinity as well. It talks about femininity, masculinity, power, control… but also about existential crises,” the director explained.
Kidman, who has previously starred in highly erotic films such as the late Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut”, had expressed enthusiasm for the project.
“I knew she (the director) was not going to abuse me,” she explained.
Meanwhile, French actor Vincent Lindon was awarded the Volpi Cup for best actor at the 81st Venice Film Festival on Saturday for his role as the father of a young far-right activist in the film “J’ouar avec le feu”.
The film is directed by director duo Delphine Collin and Muriel Collin. Lindon, 65, is one of the best-known faces in French cinema, having won the best actor award at Cannes in 2015 for “La Metier du Mart”.
