Kidman

October 20, 1998
Web posted at: 3:46 p.m. EDT (1546 GMT)

LONDON (CNN) -- Her new movie, "Practical Magic," debuted at the top of the box office this past weekend. And she co-stars with her matinee-idol husband, Tom Cruise, in a highly-anticipated film "Eyes Wide Shut," which is already drawing a buzz even though it's scheduled to be released next summer.

But Nicole Kidman's latest coup seems to be her role in a little play produced in London. "The Blue Room" has critics are raving, despite the fact that it's Kidman's first stage role in more than a decade. In fact, reviews have been so positive that the play is heading for Broadway.

"I thought I was doing a small play in an experimental theater, and I couldn't believe the reaction it got," says Kidman. "I was so nervous the opening night, and then, once the play started, I thought, 'Just go for it.'"

Theatrical preview for "Practical Magic" Windows Media: 28k or 56k

Theatrical beginnings

Kidman says she's glad to be back on the stage.

"That's how I started, when I was 14, but I hadn't done a lot of theater in Australia. I did two plays, and so this was the first time I'd been on the stage in 11 years," she said.

It's been nearly 10 years since Americans first noticed Kidman in the Australian film "Dead Calm," a tense drama about a couple trapped on their sailboat with a psychopath.

She wowed audiences in Gus Van Zant's 1995 flick "To Die For," winning a Golden Globe for best actress.

And Kidman now stars as a witch with a wild streak opposite Sandra Bullock in "Practical Magic," which raked in $13.6 million in its first weekend.

"Sometimes you work with people that you wouldn't want to hang out with off the set," she says. "Sandy and I genuinely enjoyed each other. She just came over recently to see me in the play here in London, just for one night. She came all that way, so she's a really good friend."

Kidman and husband Tom Cruise star in the next Stanley Kubrick production

The watch for 'Eyes Wide Shut'

All of this seems to set the stage for "Eyes Wide Shut."

Kidman co-stars with husband Tom Cruise in the Stanley Kubrick-directed film. The blockbuster couple reportedly signed on without even seeing the script because the kinky sex story is the first film in more than 10 years directed by Kubrick, who made "Spartacus" with Kirk Douglas and "2001: A Space Odyssey" on his way to becoming a film legend.

"Eyes Wide Shut" took almost a year and a half to film.

"It was far more complex than I thought it was going to be in terms of the duration it was shot for, but also in terms of the characters, and working with my husband, and dealing with the subject matter we were dealing with," Kidman said. "It was difficult at times but it was incredibly rewarding and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

That would be another reason for Nicole Kidman fans to head to theaters.

Correspondent Ron Tank contributed to this report.