The Morton Book: Truth or Fiction about Kidman?

I couldn't wait; I got my copy of the Morton book on Nicole's former love yesterday and while reading through the chapters that Nicole appears in, I was struck by a very interesting thought.

Nicole Kidman is very much her own creation. Described by someone in the book as the most manipulative person they have ever met, Kidman used her ambition and place as the wife of one of Hollywood's biggest stars to her advantage. I am not going to write a lengthy review here; go buy the book. It is very intricate about the religion and the actor and to take it out of context would lessen the impact that the star and his religion and that relationship has in his evolution.

Let’s talk about Kidman. Her one true love was not the first, or second, or third lover she lived with. Kidman and her true love had an intense courtship. He showered her with flowers and jewels and even bought her a Mercedes and had it delivered to her by way of a flat bed truck. But Kidman also kept a beau back in Oz who was unaware that Nicole was seeing Tom until they showed up at the 1990 Oscars. She was given lessons in his religion and while her father who was a psychiatrist was viewed as a threat, she was given a pass and her one true love proposed with a note on her pillow that read, "My darling Nicole, I have chased you and chased you until you caught me. Now will you marry me?" And on Christmas Eve 1990 in a candlelit room filled with roses and lilies they married. She spilled the news to a radio station in Sydney and told of her desire to have her children born in Australia to ground them.

She got pregnant during the shooting of a film in Ireland and miscarried in LA not too long after. Morton states in the book that Kidman was told not to conceiveas it would be dangerous to her health to be with child.

For the next ten years they were THE couple and Nicole grew used to the lifestyle. She awoke at 8 a.m. in the morning, she then worked out and had her hair done. She was given access to a plane to fly wherever she wanted and she did. She would pick up the phone and call her art dealer and have her true love buy her whatever she wanted for her birthday or the holidays. That is how she got her art collection. She told of her desire to birth a baby of her own. They set about getting their daughter. After a few weeks they had a new baby to call their own. Nicole's true love took a very hands on attitude with the infant. He would play and feed and tend to her. They also hired nannies 24/7 and so the new mother could be free to pursue her career.

The career - that was the rub. Nicole wasn't making the movies that her husband was. She wanted her own fame. She had some fame at home but she wasn't a star. She acted like a movie star treating her staff as servants and making them sign an eight page document that assured confidentiality. The staff in turn would watch her and tell her true love where she was. The attention was great at first but later she grew to resent it.

Many around these two at the time said she ALWAYS got her way. She would have tantrums and pout if the right kind of caviar wasn't on the plane. She fought with her true love’s sister. She longed to be more than a clothes horse - which she wasn't naturally - that was something her true love taught her. He even had people shop for her because she didn't like to. He bought her the films she wanted to do. She got good notices but it wasn't until To Die For and her turn on stage in The Blue Room that she became a star. The true love wanted another child and once they adopted him, Nicole went off to make another movie. She left the children often with their father to work. They moved around a lot and she spent a lot of time back in Sydney without her husband and her children. Days would go by before she called about them, Morton says.

The rumors about their marriage were many by the late 90's. The true love sued many people, and during one lawsuit information about their struggles to have children were revealed. Some say that is when Kidman fell out of love. The book talks about the rumored affairs, the jealousy and envy she felt. It also talked about the end, and the end was a long time coming - not as sudden or as surprising as many thought. She has a distant relationship with her children and her actions were the cause for that. She stayed quiet during the years after the divorce but her marriage to troubled country singer Keith Urban in a Catholic ceremony sealed her relationship with her children.

For those who have heard Kidman comes out looking good in this book, she doesn't. She is portrayed as being insecure, prone to panic attacks, is said to have a temper and is manipulative. Any one who has watched Kidman for the last three years play with Keith Urban already knew that. It is nice that the rest of the world gets to see it now.