Nicole & Reese: why they’re feuding
Former besties Reese and Nicole are said to be at loggerheads over their hit TV series
THEY were once the best of friends with beach houses right next door to each other – not unlike the two characters they play in the TV show that’s transported them to new levels of superstardom. In Big Little Lies, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon play women who live in Monterey, a dreamy beachfront town in California where houses spill onto clifftop terraces and sunsets over the ocean are celebrated with champagne as gauzy curtains billow in the breeze.
But beneath the glossy surface lies plenty of darkness and intrigue – and now it seems behind the actresses’ dazzling smiles and red-carpet coos is something altogether messier too.
Nicole (49) and Reese (41) are reportedly keeping each other at arm’s length after Reese was unhappy at her Aussie co-star’s failure to promote Big Little Lies in the run-up to its debut in February.
Reese believed Nicole spoke too much about her Oscar-nominated Hollywood movie Lion, instead of promoting the mini-series the women star in with Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz and Shailene Woodley.
“Reese was furious that Nicole hadn’t done enough to support Big Little Lies,” an insider told Australian celebrity magazine New Idea. “All she talked about in interviews was Lion. Had Reese known that Nicole would put the show so far on the backburner, she’d have cast someone else.
“Reese expects loyalty from her longtime friends both on and off set.”
At the Oscars in February you could apparently cut the tension with a knife, the source says.
“Nicole was telling her people to keep Reese away from her – there’s no love lost at all.”
Two months ago Nicole spoke in glowing terms about her friendship with Reese. “We’re very, very close friends,” she said. We’re able to talk about everything.”
But even close friends can have fallouts – especially when you consider how similar these two are.
THEIR CAREERS
Both stars have had long, successful careers – but for Reese a number of flops in the early 2000s saw her taking matters into her own hands.
At an age where good roles for women were hard to come by, she decided to use her clout and money to start up her own production companies and make movies herself – and in the process she’s become one of the most powerful women in Hollywood.
In 2012 she started the company Pacific Standard with Australian film
producer Bruna Papandrea and more recently she teamed up with Otter Media to form Hello Sunshine, a joint venture focused on making female-driven projects.
To date she’s produced the successful thriller Gone Girl with Rosamund Pike, as well as Wild (2014), a survival story about one woman’s 1 100-km solo hike, which she also starred in.
Big Little Liars – a small-screen adaptation of a book by Australian author Liane Moriarty – is her first foray into the world of TV and already it’s been a giant success.
She plays Madeline, the woman at the heart of the women who rule Monterey – and reveal their true colours when someone in their midst is murdered.
When asked in an interview this year how she spots projects she wants to produce, Reese replied, “I think the constant question for me is, how am I discovering something about a woman on film that I’ve never seen before?
“We need more female surgeons, supreme court justices and soldiers – but on screen. Not just as the girlfriends to famous men.”
Similarly Nicole founded her production company, Blossom Films, in 2010 and so far has produced Rabbit Hole – in which she delivers a heartbreaking portrayal of a mother grieving the loss of her son – the rom-com Monte Carlo starring Selena Gomez, and the family drama The Family Fang with Jason Bateman.
Having her own production company has meant she too can secure good roles for women in a predominantly male-centric Hollywood.
“It’s allowed me to shape my career in terms of being able to find things that I might not get offered,” says Nicole, who’s also an accomplished singer.
“I’m only going for the things that I’m passionate about. Otherwise I can sit at home in Nashville and take care of my children – and be very happy.”
THEIR MONEY
Reese’s net worth stands at around $80 million (about R1 billion). According to Forbes she pulls in about $15 million (R187,5 million) a movie, but she’s also branched out into other avenues. She’s the global ambassador for cosmetic range Avon and in 2015 launched Draper James, a clothing brand inspired by the American South, where she’s from.
Property-wise she owns several homes, one of which is a ranch in Ojai, California, where she married second hubby, Jim Toth (47).
In 2006 Nicole was Hollywood’s highest paid actress, earning $17 million (then R119 million) a movie. She’s dipped since then, but still pulls in mega bucks, thanks largely to other endeavours such as being the face of fragrance Chanel No 5, for which she was paid $12 million (R150 million) to star in a three-minute film.
In 2015 she was reportedly paid a seven-figure sum to become the brand ambassador for Etihad Airways.
She owns homes in Sydney, Nashville and Los Angeles.
THEIR MEN
Reese found happiness with Hollywood talent agent Jim Toth after divorcing fellow actor Ryan Phillippe in 2007.
She and Jim wed in 2011 and according to a source close to the actress she’s been transformed. “They very much complement each other and he’s a great dad, stepdad and husband. He’s her rock.”
Reese says she’s gotten lucky with Jim. “I’m very blessed.”
After her doomed marriage to fellow Hollywood A-lister Tom Cruise, Nicole found love with country crooner Keith Urban. They married in 2006 and Nicole has consistently dismissed the rumours of marital trouble stemming primarily from Keith’s longstanding alcohol and drug problems.
“We lavish each other with love,” she said last year. She’s supported her hubby’s stints in rehab, saying she’s always there to support and love him. He in turn has said he’s a better man for her.
THEIR KIDS
Reese has one child with Jim Toth, son Tennessee (4), and two kids with Ryan Philippe – mini-me daughter Ava (17) and son Deacon (13). She and Ryan are “very much” still friends and share parenting duties. After adopting two children – Isabella (24) and Connor (22) – with Tom Cruise, Nicole now has two daughters with Keith Urban, Sunday Rose (8), whom she gave birth to, and Faith Margaret (6), who was delivered via a surrogate.
She hasn’t ruled out having another child, she says. “I never say never.” Big Little Lies is on M-Net on Wednesdays at 9.30 pm SOURCES: NYTIMES.COM, INSTYLE, VARIETY, WIKIPEDIA, GUARDIAN.CO.UK, DAILYMAIL.CO.UK, PRESSREADER.COM