Australia’s drama community has praised Nicole Kidman for raising the international profile of homegrown actors with her Oscars triumph.
Kidman became the first Australian to win best actress Oscar for her performance in The Hours at the 75th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
Actors and drama schools back home said Kidman’s portrayal of suicidal English writer Virginia Woolf was deserving of the movie world’s biggest accolade.
National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) director John Clark said Kidman’s award was “a vote of confidence in the quality of Australian actors”.
He said the star had an extraordinarily diverse acting ability.
“Like Cate Blanchett, she has the ability to transform herself completely and she never plays two characters the same,” he said.