Tumblr page for our Nicole Kidman fansite Nicole's Magic. We have so many favourite photos of Nic, we wanted to share them daily and decided that tumblr was the way to do this!
All photos from http://www.nkidman.com
On Location: HBO’s ‘Hemingway & Gellhorn’ sets global stage in San Francisco
On Location: HBO’s ‘Hemingway & Gellhorn’ sets global stage in San Francisco
- April 24th 2012In the upcoming HBO movie “Hemingway & Gellhorn,” actors Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman bring to life the passionate and stormy relationship between Ernest Hemingway and World War II correspondent Martha Gellhorn — the inspiration for the writer’s classic novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
But the real star of the cable network’s film, which premieres May 28, is the city of San Francisco and the Bay Area. Though the movie’s story takes place in nine countries, it was shot over 40 days last spring entirely on location within about 20 miles of the Northern California city.
Filmmakers usually come to San Francisco because they want to capture the city’s unique look and historical landmarks, such as the Golden Gate Bridge or the Fisherman’s Wharf. In this case, the city and surrounding communities stood in for Spain, Finland, Cuba, New York, Shanghai, Key West, even Ketchem, Idaho, where the famous author took his life in 1961.
Producers relied not only on the area’s diverse locations but on state and local film incentives as well as advanced green-screen technology combined with actual historical footage from the period.
“We literally shot for every place, except for San Francisco,” said Trish Hofmann, the film’s executive producer who will share her experiences on the HBO movie at an annual industry breakfast Friday in Los Angeles sponsored by the California Film Commission.Typically, a film with so many foreign locations would have been shot overseas. But with a tight budget — less than $20 million — producers ruled out shooting in Europe.
They considered Puerto Rico but settled on San Francisco, partly as a practical matter. Director Phil Kaufman (“The Right Stuff” and “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”) lives in the city, as do many of the actors, including Joan Chen, who plays Madame Chiang Kai-shek.
Local and state incentives also helped make the decision easier. “Hemingway & Gellhorn” received a $3-million tax credit from California’s film program, which awards credits based on a lottery system.
“We set up a little shrine to pray for the tax rebate, with a candle, a bottle of Vodka, a picture of Hemingway and Gellhorn and a copy of ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls,’ ” Hofmann said. “When we got it, we celebrated — Hemingway style.”
The project received $600,000 more in rebates from the city for police expenses and the cost of renting a warehouse at the port for production offices and sound-stage space.
A rickety pier and wooden houses in China Camp State Park east of the Golden Gate Bridge provided the backdrop for scenes set in Key West and Cuba, with the help of a few palm tree props. The salt flats in the South Bay represented the rice paddies of China in the 1930s.
An old railway station in Oakland covered in graffiti and bird droppings was cleaned up to look like a hotel in Madrid, while Spanish Civil War scenes were filmed in an arid, flat area of Livermore east of the city that bears a remarkable resemblance to the Spanish countryside.
Shanghai of the 1930s was re-created in the back alleys of Chinatown, while Finland was represented by an actual Finnish church in Pacific Heights.
“If you challenge me, I can find you within 20 miles of San Francisco, 40 feet from anywhere in the world,” said Patrick Ranahan, the film’s location manager.
Borrowing a technique Kaufman employed for his 1983 movie, “The Right Stuff,” producers also made extensive use of archival footage from the Library of Congress and other sources. And they used advanced green-screen technology to insert actors into actual footage from late 1930s Spain, World War II and other periods.
“We spent a year before principal photography going through a 100 hours of archival footage,” said Chris Morley, visual effects supervisor at Tippett Studio in Berkeley. “It’s the only way it could have been done.”
“The Paperboy” updates - Cannes premiere date + first clip
Big thanks to our on-the-ball forum member thehours_fan for giving us updates on Nicole’s new movie The Paperboy:
- The movie will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday May 24th - that’s two weeks today. It will have three screenings that day, and another one the day after. I’ve also read that there will be a press screening the day before (May 23rd).
- The first clip for the movie has been released! It shows Ward (Matthew McConaughey) talking to Hillary (John Cusack) in prison. It’s titled as Clip #4, so hopefully clips 1-3 will surface soon. Watch this one below…
Photocall to mark the start of shooting for “The Railway Man”
Nicole is now in Edinburgh to start shooting a new movie, The Railway Man, and today attended a photocall in the Scottish city to mark the start of filming. To start with, I have posted (and back-dated) the original news release reporting Nicole’s involvement in this movie here - as you can see from the date she was first announced to be starring in the movie in early March. The photocall today was held at the Creative Scotland Offices in Edinburgh, and was attended by Nic, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Jeremy Irvine and director Jonathan Teplitzky. Nic looked smart in a black jumper and blazer, jeans, and black boots … almost matching her co-star Colin Firth!
Photos from the event can be seen in our Gallery, and read on further down this post for some interesting reports on today’s event and the story behind the film, including several quotes from Nic.
• “The Railway Man” Photocall x35
• “The Railway Man” Photocall - High Quality x22
Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth unveil The Railway Man
Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth have said they hope their new film about a soldier’s battle to overcome his torture while a Japanese prisoner of war will increase public awareness of veterans’ struggle to live normal lives.The Oscar-winning actress and actor will shortly start filming The Railway Man, which tells the true story of how Eric Lomax’s wife helped him overcome the trauma he suffered in Burma during the Second World War.
Mrs Lomax set up a mission back to the Bridge on the River Kwai, where her husband confronted Nagase Takashi, the interpreter at his interrogations. The movie is based on a bestselling book of the same name he wrote about his experiences.
Miss Kidman, 44, said she was so moved by the story she instantly accepted the role but both she and Mr Firth emphasised its relevance to current events, with thousands of soldiers struggling to adapt on their return home from war.
Speaking at a press conference in Edinburgh ahead of a two-month shoot in Scotland, he said: “We do somehow see stories of what it’s like coming home from a war but we very rarely see stories about what it’s like decades later.
“This isn’t just a portrait of suffering. It’s a very, very specific story about how that kind of damage interacts with intimate relationships, with love.”
He added: “I think with an experience that is so difficult to talk about for the veterans themselves, the way back into any kind of recognisable life is a tortuous one. People won’t understand even if you could talk to them.”
Mr Firth said he had twice met Mr Lomax, who is now 92, and his wife, Patti, to discuss their experiences but was occasionally “overwhelmed by the enormity of the story we’re trying to tell in 90 minutes.”
“To meet Eric personally humanises it. I found it very valuable from that point of view. I think history as it moves forward seems to express a kind of indifference to what happened to you,” the King’s Speech actor said.
“He comes from a generation where the facilities for managing that kind of trauma were not there. Much later on he did encounter ways of managing it and people who helped him but what’s astonishing to me is the number of years that went by where he just ploughed on.”
Miss Kidman said she read a newspaper article the day after she agreed to take part in the movie about a woman falling in love with a solider who had just returned from Afghanistan and how they coped with him suffering blackouts and severe trauma.
“It was basically about women who are married or in relationships with men who have come back from Afghanistan or Iraq right now and I thought there’s a sign that this is still incredibly relevant,” she said.
“It was very informative for helping to mould the character for me. I read it and I was moved. I am that spontaneous in my decisions. I just found the subject matter very moving and that’s what drew me to it – the power of somebody loving someone through trauma. I find that appealing and I can relate to it.”
The Railway Man, directed by Jonathan Teplitzky, has a budget of around £12 million and will shoot at locations around Edinburgh, in North Berwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Mr Lomax, who comes from Edinburgh and lives in Berwick-upon-Tweed, was a lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals when he was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore in 1942.
Along with thousands of other prisoner-of-war, he was forced to work on the notorious Burma-Siam railway, which was the subject of David Lean’s 1957 Oscar-winner The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Colin Firth ‘overwhelmed’ by new Second World War epic
Actor Colin Firth has said he felt “a little overwhelmed” by the enormity of the story to be told in his latest film The Railway Man.The Oscar winning actor plays one of tens of thousands of Allied prisoners of war forced to work on the construction of the Burma Railway, also known as the “Death Railway”, during the Second World War.
Firth’s part is based on the true story of British Army officer Eric Lomax, who was sent to a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in 1942. The film will shed light on the horrific living and working conditions on the railway - it is estimated that around half of the 180,000 Asian labourers and about 16,000 Allied prisoners died during the construction.
The most famous portion of the railway is Bridge 277, which was famously the subject of David Lean’s classic 1052 war film The Bridge Over The River Kwai.
The Railway Man will focus on Lomax’s relationship with his wife Patti, played by Nicole Kidman, who he met years later when he was still haunted by memories of the torture.
Shooting begins on April 30 in Scotland, where Lomax was from, and will later move to Thailand and Queensland, Australia.
Firth has met Eric and Patti Lomax twice, and said the meetings helped prepare him for the role.
He said: “They are both incredibly engaging and made me feel very welcome.
“I found them both a delight, though I did feel at times a little overwhelmed by the enormity of the story.
“It was important to me to meet them, it focused me and it was something that was very sobering, but also the story is such a big one and about a generation prior to my own, it can feel a bit abstract, a little bit out of reach, but to meet Eric personalised it and humanised it.”
Firth suggested the character is a man who does not know where he is going as he deals with the emotional fall-out of his wartime experience.
He said: “He is looking for a way home that might be represented by Patti.”
Kidman is “polishing” her English accent to take on the role of Patti, who is English, and plans to meet her during shooting as she has not yet done so.
The Oscar winner is looking forward to rediscovering Scotland and Edinburgh during the shoot, having visited the country as a teenager.
She said: “I did a road trip with a boyfriend when I was 18, so it has been a while, but I went all the way up to Ullapool.
The film also features War Horse star Jeremy Irvine, Stellan Skarsgard, of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and Japanese star Hiroyuki Sanada.
Asked how he felt to play the young Colin Firth in the film, Irvine replied: “You find yourself looking in the mirror going ‘Am I quite up to that?’ It is a great privilege to be working with actors like this.
“I’m so early in all this and still desperately trying to learn and use these people as role models.”
Shooting will take place at locations including Edinburgh and North Berwick.
Director Jonathan Teplitzky said it was important to film in Scotland.
“We are all captured by the story and Eric’s journey, and I think it’s a story that began here and, to a certain extent, we just wanted to honour that and capture the story of his journey.”
Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman aboard for second world war film The Railway Man
Filming set to begin on adaptation of Eric Lomax’s bestselling account of his experiences as a POW on the Burma railway
On two occasions in recent months, Colin Firth has met for lunch with an elderly couple from Berwick-upon-Tweed. The pair had a story to tell, one that Firth has struggled to comprehend.
In Edinburgh today the Oscar-winner spoke of his admiration for Eric Lomax, a survivor of the Burma railway, who he will play in the new film The Railway Man, alongside fellow Academy Award-winner Nicole Kidman as Lomax’s wife Patti.
The film, directed by Jonathan Teplitzky, starts filming in Scotland on Monday. It is based on Lomax’s book of the same name, which tells of his suffering as a young Scottish POW on the Burma railway and how, with the help of his wife, he travelled back to Asia to meet one of his torturers in an attempt let go of a lifetime of bitterness and hate.
Speaking at a press conference in the Scottish capital today alongside Kidman and co-stars Stellan Skarsgård and Jeremy Irvine (who will play the young Lomax), Firth said he had been struck by the old soldier’s story and how it still has relevance today.
“Just about any era you could name could be held to be famous for its brutality and devilish tortures,” said Firth. “Sadly, I can’t envisage a time when it won’t be relevant. I think what is not often addressed is the effect over time. We do sometimes see stories about what it’s like coming home from war, we very rarely see stories about what it’s like decades later. This is not just a portrait of suffering. It’s about relationships… how that damage interacts with intimate relationships, with love.”
Lomax, now 92, was in his early 20s when he was captured during in fall of Singapore in 1942 and was transported to Thailand to work on the notorious railway. When guards discovered a radio he had helped make to bring news to the inmates, he was interrogated and tortured.
“He was horribly punished,” said producer and co-writer Andy Paterson. “You are left after that messed up for many, many years. Then decades later he got on a train and met a beautiful woman who made him laugh for the first time and she had the strength to try and find out what was happening to him.”
Paterson first read Lomax’s book more than 13 years ago and knew it was a film he wanted to make. “It’s a story that will never let you go.” He was introduced to Bill Curbishley, manager of The Who, who owned the rights to Lomax’s books, but the story’s epic scale and their plan to follow the structure of the book exactly was difficult to fund.
A reshaping of the story to highlight the role of Patti Lomax proved more attractive. Teplitzky was signed to the project, and the script was sent to Firth, fresh from The King’s Speech, who loved it.
Firth said it was important to him that he meet Eric and Patti Lomax before he started preparing for the role. “They are both incredibly engaging,” he said. “He’s incredibly approachable, as much as a person can be on a subject like that. He is 92 and not really demonstrating that at all. He is mentally far more agile than I am. I have to keep up with him really. He has a tremendous sense of humour that can be a little dark at times. I found him nothing but a delight and you do feel a little overwhelmed by the enormity of the story you are trying to tell.”
Kidman has yet to meet Patti Lomax, but will spend some time with her during the shoot. “I wanted to form the character first and then meet her, so I was not trying to force myself into being her,” she said. “I have to find my own way.”
Like Firth, Kidman had been struck by the story when she was sent the script. “I just found the subject matter very moving, that’s what drew me to it and the power of somebody loving someone through trauma. I found that inspiring and I can relate to it.” The day after she signed up for the film she read an article in an American newspaper about a woman falling in love with a man who had just returned from Afghanistan. “I thought, there’s a sign that this is still incredibly relevant.”
It is not Kidman’s first visit to Scotland. She revealed at the press conference that she had visited the country as a teenager and had taken a road trip with her then boyfriend as far north as Ullapool.
The film is a joint UK and Australian production, backed by, among others, Creative Scotland and Lionsgate UK, who will be releasing the film in the UK. The 10-week shoot will move from Scotland to Thailand in late May and then Australia in early June.
Andy Paterson said there had been some qualms among the Japanese acting community when it came to casting the roles of the Japanese soldiers. “The initial reaction to a film about the Burma railway was that people were scared of it and ran away from it,” he said. “But when we said it’s the Railway Man, the actors turned around and said we would be honoured to be part of that story.”
Andrew Dixon, chief executive of Creative Scotland, said the project was a great boost to the creative community in Scotland. “We invest in films for different reasons, because there’s a story about Scotland, because there’s a Scottish writer involved, because there are locations in Scotland or because it provides talent opportunities for our people within the film industry,” he said. “A project like the Railway Man, an international film of great standing does all of these things. It is a really great project for us in Scotland.”
Nicole at the Nashville Film Festival
Nic attended the Nashville Film Festival last weekend, speaking on the Evolution of Women Behind the Camera panel with Carrie Preston, Beth Grant and Famke Janssen. Unfortunately the only coverage I’ve come across so far are a few photos and the quote below, so for now, here you go:
“Find good mentors. Don’t care what people think… But you must try stuff. Keep going and don’t give up.”
- Nicole Kidman
• Nashville Film Festival x11
Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman hit North Berwick for movie
WITH its quiet beaches and well-manicured fairways, North Berwick seems a universe away from the glamour of Holywood.
But excitement is building in the picturesque East Lothian town ahead of the arrival of two of cinema’s biggest names.
Oscar winners Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman will jet in next month to film scenes for The Railway Man – the story of Edinburgh-born prisoner of war Eric Lomax.
It is the latest A-list movie to be shot in Scotland following Brad Pitt’s zombie film World War Z, Scarlett Johansson’s sci-fi horror Under The Skin, and Skyfall, the new James Bond instalment.
It is understood crews will be filming in North Berwick from May 13-18, and that much of the shoot will take place in Tantallon Terrace. Crews are also expected to head to Port Seton.
John Skillen, 49, manager at the town’s Sweet News newsagent, said: “It will certainly raise the profile of the town. This is a tourism place and a holiday resort so the boost will be good.”
Irene Steel, 52, manager at the County Hotel, said: “This is really good news for North Berwick – it makes the town buzz a wee bit and makes it a bit more exciting. It will really help put the town on the map.”
The subject of the film, Mr Lomax, now 92, served as a British army signals officer during the Second World War and was sent to Japan’s notorious Changi prisoner-of-war camp after his capture in Singapore in 1942.
He was one of thousands of Allied prisoners who endured torture and was forced to work on the construction of the infamous Death Railway between Thailand and Burma.
East Lothian Council said arrangements were being made to accommodate the film’s production crews.
A council spokeswoman said: “I can confirm that the transportation department are liaising with film-makers over footage being shot in North Berwick.
“It is unlikely to involve road closures but there will be suspension of parking during certain hours.”
Any inconvenience the shoot might cause was of no concern to some residents.
Stuart Kerr, 21, a barman at the Glen Golf Club, said: “It’s awesome. It’s not every day you get people like Nicole Kidman coming to North Berwick.”
Hazel Barnes, a Tantallon Terrace resident, added: “It’s very exciting and really nice to have some A-list celebs in town.”
Kathryn Smith, of North Berwick community council, said: “Anything that puts North Berwick on the map will be a good thing.”
Reconciliation after years of hatred
ERIC Lomax was one of thousands sent to the Changi prisoner-of-war camp after the fall of Singapore to Japan in 1942.
During his imprisonment, he and a group of fellow soldiers were beaten to a pulp by their Japanese captors because they had been discovered in possession of a radio.
The beating fuelled an intense hatred in Mr Lomax for Nagase Takashi, the interpreter who had interrogated him.
But the two men are now friends after they met and were reconciled in 1998.
Mr Lomax published his memoir The Railway Man in 1980.
Nicole Kidman’s hungry for capital treat as star unveils new film
MANY of Edinburgh’s top restaurants have a picture of Sir Sean Connery gracing their walls as their most famous diner.
But they may well soon have to make space for a slightly more glamorous film star addition to their picture gallery.
Hollywood A-lister Nicole Kidman has sent the Capital’s top eateries into a spin by announcing she is hungry to try out its top culinary spots.
Kidman put chefs across the city on red alert at a press conference in the Creative Scotland office in Waverley Gate, where she appeared with fellow Oscar winning co-star Colin Firth to publicise their new movie, The Railway Man.
The stars jetted into town as filming is about to begin across Edinburgh and the Lothians for the next ten weeks.
Kidman, who also revealed how she had visited the Capital as a teenager, said she would not be hiding in a hotel room when not on set.
She said: “I’ve been here before as a tourist but that was on a road trip with a boyfriend when I was 18. I’ve heard there’s some great restaurants, so I will be out and about, though we’re working six days a week. The fact we’re working in a number of locations means we’ll get to see lots too.”
One of the first stops may well be the Michelin-starred Balmoral – a stone’s throw from the press conference location, where staff yesterday (April 28th) said they couldn’t possibly comment on the prospect.
However, Pierre Levicky, owner of Chez Joules in Hanover Street, said he was looking forward to a visit.
“She will get a warm welcome here. I don’t know what she’s used to, but she’s Australian so our food is better than theirs. I hope we’ll recognise her!”
Both Kidman and Firth have clearly been well prepped ahead of their visit and skilfully sidestepped a request to reveal who they would be supporting in the cup final.
To cries of “What a way to alienate an entire half of the city?” from producer Andy Paterson, Kidman chose to flash a full-beam Hollywood smile while Firth simply stated: “I’m not going anywhere near that.”
The film tells the story of Edinburgh-born Second World War prisoner of war Eric Lomax, played by Colin Firth, who spent years in Japan’s notorious Changi POW camp.
Mr Lomax, now 92 and living in North Berwick, was one of thousands of Allied prisoners forced to work on building the Death Railway between Thailand and Burma.
Kidman plays his wife, Patti, who helped him overcome his terrors. Firth told how “overwhelmed” he was by the enormity of Eric’s story.
He refused to be drawn on how his Scottish accent is shaping up, saying: “I’d like to plead the fifth on that just yet.”
Meanwhile, Kidman is “polishing” her English accent to take on the role of Patti, who she will meet during shooting.
Nic on the cover of Australian Harper’s Bazaar!
Nic looks stunning on the cover of the new June/July issue of Australian Harper’s Bazaar, posing on the front cover with 18 month old Faith Margaret! Nicole looks amazing, and I can’t wait to see the photos and read the interview inside. It’s such an elegant cover.
Aussie Harper’s Bazar editor Edwina McCann explains how the photo came about:
Nicole Kidman is no stranger to criticism. She faced plenty after the birth in December 2010 of Faith Margaret, a much-yearned for sister for Sunday Rose. Faith was famously born with the help of a “gestational carrier” as is the common term in the US. No doubt there will be those who throw yet more criticism at her for allowing her children to feature in photos in this month’s Harper’s BAZAAR. So I wanted to explain what happened behind the scenes.
Kidman was booked for our cover shoot with a young Australian photographer and regular BAZAAR contributor, Will Davidson. The shoot took place a few hours out of Sydney in a country home with a perfect red dirt road, as envisioned by Davidson. Kidman arrived on time, without entourage, and even spotted the crew not a coffee but a coffee van — “my treat” — when she was told the cost was beyond the shoot budget. She was a willing photographic subject, talked to me in an unguarded and genuinely warm manner before the pictures, and later waited obligingly until dark for a specific Gucci dress to arrive. (In the end the light was so low that the shot didn’t make the cut.) Later in the afternoon, Sunday Rose and Faith arrived after their sleeps to see Mummy. Kidman didn’t want to put them down; Sunday Rose donned one of the tuxedo jackets from the clothing racks because it was getting chilly. The photographer then took some shots of Kidman with the girls solely for her family album.
When McCann saw the images, she knew they had struck gold.
”They [the pictures] say so much more about Nicole Kidman than anything I could write in words. They are magic, raw and full of intense love, and clearly show her devotion to her children,” she told PS.
After some convincing, Kidman agreed to have the photos published and saw the final product on Thursday night.
Kidman explained: ”I think it’s OK, because you can’t see their faces; they’re still protected. I feel it’s a really lovely way to celebrate being a mum and being a family, and they’re my daughters, and they’re Keith’s daughters [laughs] … you can see the hair!”
This new issue hits Aussie news-stands on Monday May 14th. If you pick up a copy of this (which you undoubtedly will!) and can contribute scans of it to us, please get in touch :D
Skarsgard, Sanada joins ‘Railway Man’
Stellan Skarsgard and Hiroyuki Sanada have joined the cast of “The Railway Man,” starring Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman and Jeremy Irvine, which starts shooting April 30 in Scotland.
Directed by Jonathan Teplitzy from a script by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson, the movie is based on the true story of Eric Lomax, a British officer captured and tortured by the Japanese in WW2.
Decades later, Lomax was persuaded by his wife to seek out and confront one of his captors.
Skarsgard will play the best friend who accompanies the older Lomax (Firth) back to the scene of his torture. Sanada (“47 Ronin”) plays a Japanese officer from the prison camp whom Lomax tracks down.
The film is an Australia/U.K. co-production, with Lionsgate U.K. taking worldwide rights. Lionsgate Intl. is handling foreign sales, and CAA will rep the U.S. rights on behalf of Lionsgate U.K. Production coin also comes from Screen Australia, Screen Queensland, Creative Scotland and gap financier Silver Reel.
Paterson is producing with Chris Brown and Bill Curbishley. After Scotland, the shoot will move to Thailand and Queensland, Australia.
The pic has been pre-sold to Metropolitan in France, eOne in Benelux, West in Russia, Spentzos in Greece, Ascot Elite in Switzerland, Gussi in Latin America, Mislabel in Scandinavia and Forum in Poland.
- Variety
Keith Urban’s Grand Ole Opry Induction
Keith Urban, Grand Ole Opry Induction: How Wife Nicole Kept Invite a Secret
As Keith Urban prepares to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry tomorrow night (April 21), it’s odd to think that just two weeks ago he had no idea this would be happening. The Aussie received the “shocking” invitation during the April 10 All for the Hall benefit concert in Nashville.
Keeping the secret of the Opry invitation from Keith was a tough one, especially when it came to making sure he didn’t schedule anything on his intended induction day. His wife, Nicole Kidman, had a plan, though. She penciled in a friend’s birthday party on their calendar.
“That’s all I knew, that it was a friend of my wife’s birthday written on the schedule,” Keith says, “which apparently is totally fictitious, but I didn’t question it. I was just gonna go.”
To put things into perspective, Keith recalls the first time he stepped on that legendary stage, and how he got to meet one of his musical heroes backstage. “I was such a Ricky Skaggs fan,” Keith recalls. “I remember that he was so approachable, and I was like ‘I can’t believe I’m talking to Ricky Skaggs.’ But that’s what it was like behind the scenes at the Opry — everyone was approachable and so laid back.”
When Opry member Vince Gill, along with Rascal Flatts and Diamond Rio, presented the “For You” singer with the honor, he was overcome with emotion. “I was thinking what it means to me to be inducted into the Opry is probably no more than a feeling of they know where my heart is,” he explains. “My whole childhood was predominantly immersed in traveling around to country festivals and performing and competing in these talent quests.”
Even though Keith’s heart has always been focused on country music, he does recall a time — around the age of 15 — when he had to step outside of his comfort zone. “I was in this heavy metal band for like two weeks, and I got fired for playing these chicken-picking guitar solos, because it was a band that played all this Judas Priest and Whitesnake songs,” he remembers. “I was totally immersed in Ricky Skaggs at the time. I had bought Highways and Heartaches, and I just discovered [guitarist] Ray Flack and I’m like, ‘This is fantastic.’ That, to me, sums up what my conundrum was at the time; the question of, ‘Well, what do I do? What sort of music should I be making?’ The foundation was always country, so to get this induction … this is exactly where my heart is, where it always has been.”
Fans who won’t make it to Nashville tomorrow can watch Keith’s induction on GAC’s “Noteworthy at the Opry,” which airs live April 21 at 9PM ET.
Keith Urban Inducted Into Grand Ole Opry
Keith Urban officially became a member of the Grand Ole Opry during an appearance on its famous Nashville, Tenn. stage Saturday night.
After performing his hits “Days Go By” and “Without You,” while wife Nicole Kidman looked on from backstage, the country superstar was inducted by General Manager Pete Fisher and fellow Opry members Trace Adkins and Josh Turner.
“Thank you very much! Yee haw! That is awesome!” Urban, 44, said before thanking the Opry’s members, his parents (who “got me into country music and drove me around to all the gigs”), his wife, daughters Sunday Rose, 3, and Faith Margaret, 16 months, and his fans.
The guitarist, singer and songwriter, who was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, is the first non-North American artist to receive the honor.
“This is a responsibility that I take deep to the heart of me,” he said during his emotional speech. “I honor the history of country music, but I absolutely fully dedicate myself to the future of country music, as well.”
More new stills from “The Paperboy”!
Mere days after our exciting first still from The Paperboy, and we’ve been treated to more! Six new stills of Nicole as Charlotte have found their way online today, and these new shots give us more of a glimpse into the character and action of the movie. This film looks crazy-good, it’s been too long since Nicole did something completely out there like this! These stills are brilliant…
• The Paperboy > Stills x6 more
