Nov. 30, 2007

When Nicole Kidman was first approached to play the complicated role of Marisa Coulter in "The Golden Compass," the first movie adaptation of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, she immediately turned it down. The Oscar-winning actress claims she isn't a "huge fan of fantasy" and was feeling "lazy," enjoying some quiet time with husband Keith Urban at their home in Tennessee. But after receiving personal letters from Pullman and director Chris Weitz ("About a Boy"), she confesses she was "seduced" into joining the budding franchise.

Set in a world similar to, yet different from, our own, "Compass" introduces Coulter as a beautiful scientist working for the Magisterium, a powerful governing entity whose secret goal is to control all of humanity. Mrs. Coulter recruits the young, orphaned Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) as her "assistant" and soon discovers the girl has been given one of the last alethiometers -- a mystical device that can tell the truth, reveal what others wish to conceal, and even change the future (basically, the golden compass in question). Lyra escapes before the compass is taken from her, and it's the Magisterium's pursuit that forces Mrs. Coulter to reveal the secret the two women share.

Kidman loved playing the stylish character, whose daemon (a physical representation of your soul) is an exotic golden monkey, and looks forward to making all three films in the series. She says, "Obviously she's morally questionable at times, but also, there is a pulse in her heart beating [in] her, that's driving her to do things."

Because of events depicted in Pullman's books, which are more popular overseas than domestically, spiritual leaders have criticized the fictional scenario as being anti-religious, but Kidman quickly dismisses that notion.

"I think there's almost an alarmist approach to it right now, and when you see the film that will be dissipated," Kidman says. "Simply put, I don't want to make a film that's anti-religious or anti-Catholic. I come from a Catholic family so that's not something that my grandmother would be very happy about, and I don't really think that's what I'm involved in."

Most recently, Kidman has been spending a lot of time traveling between her birthplace Down Under and the United States to promote both "Compass" and the recently released "Margot at the Wedding." Ever the trouper, she's entering her 10th month of shooting Baz Luhrman's epic "Australia," which she exasperatingly admits is "too hard" (their previous year-long collaboration on "Moulin Rouge" was obviously not painful enough for her). A major holiday is in the works for next year, but it's been hard to turn down work, as she also acknowledges, "I'm so privileged, particularly [because] I'm 40 years old and I'm playing some of the greatest roles I've had the opportunity to play in the last couple of years."

And while Kidman has a reputation for playing icy, cold characters like Mrs. Coulter, in real life she's engagingly warm and feisty. And those qualities quickly come to light when she's quizzed on what her own daemon would be.

"Yesterday it was a kitten, 'cause I love milk and I like to be patted and taken care of and sleep a lot," Kidman says. "It's changed today. Today it's a tiger."

"The Golden Compass" opens nationwide Dec. 7.

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