Story of Kidman role in LV denied

Tuesday, April 9, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

A spokeswoman for Nicole Kidman denied today reports that the actress is headed to Las Vegas to re-create her Oscar-nominated role in a stage version of Moulin Rouge

The British newspaper Daily Star reported today in a copyrighted story out of Hollywood that the statuesque actress has been offered $71.5 million a year to do the show at the Bellagio.

However, Kidman's Los Angeles publicist, Catherine Olim, said today the report is not accurate and that Kidman is preparing to shoot two films this summer.

"It sounds to me like it is all made up," Olim said. "I don't see Nicole doing anything in Las Vegas in the near future."

Kidman, 34, has visited Las Vegas several times in recent years, most recently to attend the ShoWest convention.

"It sounds like a rumor, and we generally don't comment on rumors," Bellagio spokeswoman Jenn Michaels said this morning. Cirque du Soleil's "O" currently is headlining at the Bellagio, and no recent announcements have been made concerning its future.

The Daily Star, quoting an unnamed hotel source and an insider, said Kidman would receive $1.4 million a week -- five nights a week for about 40 weeks a year -- and a $10 million bonus "to build her dream house in Las Vegas."

Kidman will begin shooting "The Human Strain" with Anthony Hopkins in Canada next week and, in July, will film "Cold Mountain," Olim said.

Despite being known by American audiences primarily as a movie star, the Hawaiian-born Kidman has her roots in the theater.

The granddaughter of an Australian land owner and stock breeder began taking acting lessons at age 8 and, as a teenager, performed at theaters in Melbourne and Sydney. In recent years, Kidman performed in "The Blue Room" in London and on Broadway.

Kidman's breakout film role came in the 1989 drama "Dead Calm." Named one of the world's 50 most beautiful people by "People" magazine, Kidman married actor Tom Cruise two days before Christmas 1990 and performed with him in three films, "Days of Thunder," "Far and Away" and "Eyes Wide Shut" before their divorce.