The American Film Institute (AFI) named Nicole Kidman the recipient of the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film, celebrating her career achievements thus far. The award will be presented to Kidman at a Gala Tribute at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 10, 2023. She is the first Australian actor to receive this honor.
“Nicole Kidman has enchanted audiences for decades with the daring of her artistry and the glamour of a screen icon,” said Kathleen Kennedy, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees. “She is a force both brave in her choices and bold in each performance. AFI is honored to present her with the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award.”
Throughout her distinguished career, Kidman has won a BAFTA Award, two Emmys®, six Golden Globes and her transformational turn as Virginia Woolf in The Hours earned her the Oscar® for Best Actress in 2003.
Her acting credits include Days of Thunder (1990), Far and Away (1992), Batman Forever (1995), to Die for (1995), the Portrait of a Lady (1996), Practical Magic (1998), the Others (2001), the Human Stain (2003), Cold Mountain (2003), Birth (2004), the Interpreter (2005), Australia (2008), Nine (2009), Rabbit Hole (2010), the Paperboy (2012), Stoker (2013), Paddington (2014), Queen of the Desert (2015), Lion (2016), the Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), the Beguiled (2017), the Upside (2017), Boy Erased (2018), Destroyer (2018), Aquaman (2018), Bombshell (2019), and the Northman (2022).
In January of 2006, Kidman was awarded Australia’s highest honor, the Companion of the Order of Australia. She was also awarded the Berlin Film Festival’s Silver Bear award for her performance in The Hours. In 2017, the Cannes Film Festival honored Kidman with the 70th Anniversary Prize for her body of work and longstanding history with the festival. She is one of only eight people to ever receive this honor.
AFI Life Achievement Award Recipients
The 49th AFI Life Achievement Award Honoree joins an esteemed group of individuals who have been chosen for this distinguished honor since its inception.
1973 John Ford
1974 James Cagney
1975 Orson Welles
1976 William Wyler
1977 Bette Davis
1978 Henry Fonda
1979 Alfred Hitchcock
1980 James Stewart
1981 Fred Astaire
1982 Frank Capra
1983 John Huston
1984 Lillian Gish
1985 Gene Kelly
1986 Billy Wilder
1987 Barbara Stanwyck
1988 Jack Lemmon
1989 Gregory Peck
1990 David Lean
1991 Kirk Douglas
1992 Sidney Poitier
1993 Elizabeth Taylor
1994 Jack Nicholson
1995 Steven Spielberg
1996 Clint Eastwood
1997 Martin Scorsese
1998 Robert Wise
1999 Dustin Hoffman
2000 Harrison Ford
2001 Barbra Streisand
2002 Tom Hanks
2003 Robert De Niro
2004 Meryl Streep
2005 George Lucas
2006 Sean Connery
2007 Al Pacino
2008 Warren Beatty
2009 Michael Douglas
2010 Mike Nichols
2011 Morgan Freeman
2012 Shirley MacLaine
2013 Mel Brooks
2014 Jane Fonda
2015 Steve Martin
2016 John Williams
2017 Diane Keaton
2018 George Clooney
2019 Denzel Washington
2022 Julie Andrews