I have been meaning to write about an interesting tid bit that ran in New York Daily News this week. In the run up to the Oscar telecast Naomi Watts will appear in an upcoming CBS Oscar segment to help with her Oscar campaign for Best Actress in “The Impossible.” (Oscar ballots must be cast by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by February 19, and movie producers were hoping the actress could give the film a boost). Nicole Kidman was asked to participate, but she declined.
“Producers wanted Nicole Kidman to speak in a quick “five-minute” segment set to air on the network before the Academy Awards on Feb. 24. It was in discussion to be filmed with “60 Minutes” correspondent Lara Logan and focuses on Watts’ dramatic turn in “The Impossible.” She declined. Clearly she’s not inclined to help her friend because she’s jealous she’s not in this year’s Oscar’s spotlight. It was a ‘no’ right off the bat [for Nicole.] She could have made time if it was a priority.” While an insider close to Kidman insists that the reason she couldn’t plug her pal on “60 Minutes” had nothing to do with a case of sour grapes, producers aren’t buying it. “She couldn’t do it because of her schedule,” says the source. “It was a last-minute thing. Nicole and Naomi are best friends.” But the source also took a swipe at Watts, saying that without Kidman, the segment is no longer important: “Not sure of the length or importance of it now without Nicole agreeing to it.”
Nice. Her “best friend’s” publicist even took a dig at her. Kidman’s got a scheduling conflict. Because she can’t even just Skype? She can’t even text something? Can’t take five minutes in front of a camera and praise her best friend? She’s so busy measuring her food on scales, working out for hours in the gym, or fitting in facial reconstruction appointments to throw her own friend a bone?
Naomi, by the way, was there for Nicole when Tom Cruise unceremoniously ditched her. She moved into her house and spent months right beside her. For YEARS Naomi struggled as an actress pre-Mulholland Drive and Nicole would just say to her that one day the right part will come. This was while she lived in the lap of luxury and had movie producers and other influencers on speed dial.
You will notice that now that this story has come out that Kidman will work hard to get a photo opp arranged so we will all believe that she is the kind of girl’s girl who wouldn’t be so pissed that someone else is getting the career attention she misses. That somehow she hasn’t moaned to her flat-ironed hair husband every night over the last three months about how she could have nailed that tsunami mom role. That if it was not for HER that Naomi wouldn’t be acting at all.
She’s that girl.
-Kate Casey
Kate Casey is a Pop Culture Lover. PR Pro. Soon-to-be New mom again. Comedy nerd. Celebrity gossip fan. Follow her on Twitter
