Zendaya and Nicole Kidman Unpack ‘Challengers’ Three-Way Kiss, ‘Babygirl’ Intimacy and ‘Putting Yourself Through Trauma’ by Acting

variety.com:

Zendaya owned 2024. Just ask Nicole Kidman, who makes a point of telling the 28-year-old actor that she paid money to see both films in theaters. “One I saw at midnight — I was really jet-lagged — and I was riveted,” Kidman says. “I’m a Dunie!” Zendaya’s current position in Hollywood isn’t unlike that of a young Kidman, who had already worked with Tony Scott, Gus Van Sant and Jane Campion when she was that age.

But Kidman, now 57, has learned a lot since then, and as they talk, she delves into her role in the A24 psychosexual drama “Babygirl” while also taking Zendaya through her playbook for building an imaginative and risky — but emotionally regulated — career.

First, though, Kidman is dying to hear how the “Dune” team managed to make the sci-fi world feel so lived in. “Denis did this beautiful, sweeping shot of the sunrise, looking out at the dunes,” Zendaya tells her about Chani’s first kiss with Paul. “And I tell you, nothing changed about that shot.

That’s not special effects. It was so gorgeous and unreal. I was like, ‘This is our planet.’” NICOLE KIDMAN: As an actor, you get to see the world, and you’re not just visiting as a tourist.