Nicole Kidman, star of the creepy, spooky 2001 ghost film The Others, briefly left the project for reasons likely to surprise many fans. An Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe-winning actress, Kidman has rarely lent her considerable talents to the world of horror, which helped make The Others feel all the more satisfying. To the surprise of no one, Kidman excelled at the task of leading a horror film, delivering an arresting performance as Grace Stewart that keeps viewers' eyes locked to the screen.
One of the biggest stars of her generation, Kidman is still earning raves today for her work in the HBO series Big Little Lies and for playing Gretchen Carlson in the recent Fox News movie Bombshell. Kidman also became part of the DC Extended Universe in 2018, playing Aquaman's mother Queen Atlanna, a warrior just as fierce and powerful as her son Arthur. Kidman has become one of those A-listers that balances her career between blockbuster hits and award bait fare.
In The Others, Kidman's Grace Stewart lives with her young children Anne and Nicholas, who have a rare disease that makes them extremely sensitive to light. Grace soon comes to believe there are ghosts haunting her home, but the truth is much worse. As good as she is in The Others though, it turns out Kidman nearly left the film for good.
The Others: Why Nicole Kidman Briefly Quit the Film
The Others' Grace Stewart was unlike any role Nicole Kidman had played previously. With that in mind, the actress found it hard to put herself in the right head space for the character. This was especially due to the ending twist, in which it's not only revealed that Grace and her children have been ghosts the whole time, but that she had gone mad and murdered them, then killed herself. It's heavy material, and according to Kidman, she quit the film during pre-production rehearsals, as her character's horrific acts were giving her nightmares.
Thankfully, Kidman was eventually convinced to return to the project, presumably by director Alejandro Amenabar, but she's doesn't specify. Regardless, she returned to making The Others, and was able to finally get a handle on her character by deciding that in Grace's mind, killing her afflicted children had been an act of mercy. Despite reaching that turning point though, Kidman still found playing the role mentally taxing, and was quite glad to be rid of Grace Stewart by the time production wrapped.