Nicole Kidman says she learned hair and makeup from trans women at clubs
Nicole Kidman (Getty Images)
Nicole Kidman is crediting trans women with helping her learn the beauty skills that would become part of her signature Hollywood image.
In a 13 August profile with British Vogue, the Oscar-winning actor recalled visiting trans clubs early in her career, where she lovingly recalled how trans women taught her how to do her hair and makeup.
“I used to go to trans clubs. That’s where I learnt to do my hair and makeup,” Kidman said. “I would sit down as a little freckled-faced red-headed girl and they would make me beautiful.”
Kidman went on to describe the elaborate makeovers she received, saying the women would do a full glam routine on her while there.
“They would do my lashes and straighten my hair and put hairpieces on me and makeup. I would walk out of there and I would feel pretty. I would feel like I was transformed,” she said.
The actor suggested those experiences played a role in shaping her relationship with fashion, beauty and performance, adding: “And so that’s probably where it all started for me – clothes and make-up and hair – and then all of it mixed with studying literature and loving acting.”
Trans women and drag artists have had a significant and longstanding effect on beauty and makeup culture as a whole, utilising highly skilled approaches to cosmetics and popularising aesthetics that have subsequently entered mainstream beauty culture.
While Kidman’s admiration for those trans women who helped build her passion for aesthetics earlier in her life, she’s also embraced her status as a camp icon and publicly stated it would be her “dream” to perform her meme-worthy AMC commercial alongside a drag queen in a March 2024 interview with Elle. “I’ve got to be able to do that at some point,” she said.
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