Co-stars Aaron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference (Image: Karon Liu)
We often hear about people bending rules for celebrities, so it was refreshing to hear that Nicole Kidman was told no when she was preparing to play a grieving mother in her latest movie, Rabbit Hole. In the film, Kidman and Aaron Eckhart play parents dealing with the death of their son, and to get the emotions right, Kidman asked to sit in at a support group meeting. “I tried to go to a grief group, and they said, ‘No, you can’t come,'” Kidman recalled. “‘The emotions are too raw, and we can’t have somebody in the group who didn’t go through exactly the same thing,’ which I totally respected.”
“I did attend one bereavement class, and that was probably unethical because you really feel like you’re taking advantage of people who are really laying it out there,” said Eckhart. “You just feel like you’re a liar, so I didn’t do it again.” As an alternative, he turned to the Web for inspiration. “It just has to do with your imagination. The Internet is a great place, because people are posting video blogs as a cathartic way to deal with the loss, so the Internet is a great tool for actors because it doesn’t get any more raw than those video blogs about a father grieving over his son or a son grieving their parent, and they do it on a daily basis over the course of a year.”
Kidman also acted as producer on the film, an experience she describes as being very personal. “When you’re in a film, you’re not responsible for the film. I’m responsible for the film, so it’s a big weight, but I’m glad that we made it.”
See photos of the press conference below.
40197 Actor Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu) September 14, 2010 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman1.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman1.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman1.jpg 447 508 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/grief-group-shot-down-nicole-kidman-for-rabbit-hole-research-2/slide/nicolekidman-2/ nicolekidman-2 0 0
Actor Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
40188 Actor Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu) September 14, 2010 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman2.jpg 447 516 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/grief-group-shot-down-nicole-kidman-for-rabbit-hole-research-2/slide/nicolekidman2/ nicolekidman2 0 0
Actor Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
40193 Actor Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu) September 14, 2010 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman31.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman31.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman31.jpg 409 500 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/grief-group-shot-down-nicole-kidman-for-rabbit-hole-research-2/slide/nicolekidman3-2/ nicolekidman3-2 0 0
Actor Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
40194 Actor Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu) September 14, 2010 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman41.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman41.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman41.jpg 426 518 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/grief-group-shot-down-nicole-kidman-for-rabbit-hole-research-2/slide/nicolekidman4-2/ nicolekidman4-2 0 0
Actor Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
40191 Co-stars Aaron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu) September 14, 2010 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AaronEckhart_NicoleKidman.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AaronEckhart_NicoleKidman.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AaronEckhart_NicoleKidman.jpg 624 343 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/grief-group-shot-down-nicole-kidman-for-rabbit-hole-research-2/slide/aaroneckhart_nicolekidman/ aaroneckhart_nicolekidman 0 0
Co-stars Aaron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
40187 Actor Aaron Eckhart at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu) September 14, 2010 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AaronEckhart1.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AaronEckhart1.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AaronEckhart1.jpg 463 500 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/grief-group-shot-down-nicole-kidman-for-rabbit-hole-research-2/slide/aaroneckhart-2/ aaroneckhart-2 0 0
Actor Aaron Eckhart at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
40196 Actor Aaron Eckhart at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu) September 14, 2010 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AaronEckhart21.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AaronEckhart21.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AaronEckhart21.jpg 403 497 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/grief-group-shot-down-nicole-kidman-for-rabbit-hole-research-2/slide/aaroneckhart2-2/ aaroneckhart2-2 0 0
Actor Aaron Eckhart at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
40190 Actors Miles Teller and Aaron Eckhart at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu) September 14, 2010 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/MilesTeller_AaronEckhart.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/MilesTeller_AaronEckhart.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/MilesTeller_AaronEckhart.jpg 624 334 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/grief-group-shot-down-nicole-kidman-for-rabbit-hole-research-2/slide/milesteller_aaroneckhart/ milesteller_aaroneckhart 0 0
Actors Miles Teller and Aaron Eckhart at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
40195 Actor Tammy Blanchard at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu) September 14, 2010 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/TammyBlanchard.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/TammyBlanchard.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/TammyBlanchard.jpg 399 493 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/grief-group-shot-down-nicole-kidman-for-rabbit-hole-research-2/slide/tammyblanchard/ tammyblanchard 0 0
Actor Tammy Blanchard at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
40192 Co-stars Aaron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman with director John Cameron Mitchell at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu) September 14, 2010 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Eckhart_NicoleKidman_James.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Eckhart_NicoleKidman_James.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Eckhart_NicoleKidman_James.jpg 624 383 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/grief-group-shot-down-nicole-kidman-for-rabbit-hole-research-2/slide/eckhart_nicolekidman_james/ eckhart_nicolekidman_james 0 0
Co-stars Aaron Eckhart and Nicole Kidman with director John Cameron Mitchell at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
40189 Cast members from Rabbit Hole at the press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu) September 14, 2010 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Cast6.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Cast6.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Cast6.jpg 624 328 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/grief-group-shot-down-nicole-kidman-for-rabbit-hole-research-2/slide/cast-8/ cast-8 0 0
Cast members from Rabbit Hole at the press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
40186 Actor Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu) September 14, 2010 https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman5.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman5.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/NicoleKidman5.jpg 545 460 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/grief-group-shot-down-nicole-kidman-for-rabbit-hole-research-2/slide/nicolekidman5/ nicolekidman5 0 0
Actor Nicole Kidman at the Rabbit Hole press conference at the Hyatt Regency (Image: Karon Liu)
WITH OR WITHOUT THE GROUP… AN INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE.,,
LOOKING FOR OSCAR,,,, !!!!! ENJOY…
I feel that if Kidman was behind the “making” of this movie, as well as “starring” in it, I would definitely like to see it. I really like her acting, and her as a person. I think that this flick could be “interesting”, altho’ maybe depressing, but I’d still sit through it.–Who’s Eckart?–Never heard of him before!