# What would happen to Nicole Kidman's career if she did a porno in 2005? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559 "2005-01-07T14:49:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/21 "2005-01-08T06:42:17Z")
> [@Rainbowthief](#): > > I forgot to add that I would buy a Nicole Kidman porno in a heartbeat! I think she’s the most beautiful actress around. I just hope if she did a porno she’d do it as a redhead, not a blond. 😃 Your not a real fan… only one copy ! I’d buy at least three… 😃 If she does a porno I hope she makes a load of money out of it… it would be a great tendency to have mainstream actresses doing hardcore ! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/22 "2005-01-08T06:49:26Z")
> [@Rainbowthief](#): > > …but if she did a regular movie with a well regarded director in which she has a sex scene where she is really penetrated, it would create controversy and probably some negative backlash, but her career would survive just fine. Hell, she’d probably get an Oscar nomination. Worked for Barbara Hershey and David Carradine in “Boxcar Bertha.” No Oscars but an Emmy and a couple of Cannes Best Actress awards for her. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/23 "2005-01-08T09:32:58Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Worked for Barbara Hershey and David Carradine in “Boxcar Bertha.” No Oscars but an Emmy and a couple of Cannes Best Actress awards for her. Yeah, but the penetration wasn’t shown, was it? According to the IMDb, the sex scene in question wasn’t simulated _according to Barbara Hershey and David Carradine_. Since IMDb can’t provide a definite answer as to whether or not the scene was real, I’d assume that penetration wasn’t shown. However, if there was any particular era of filmmmaking in which someone _could_ have gotten away with showing actual sex in a mainstream film, it would have been the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/24 "2005-01-08T10:44:00Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Worked for Barbara Hershey and David Carradine in “Boxcar Bertha.” No Oscars but an Emmy and a couple of Cannes Best Actress awards for her. And is a scene wherein actual intercourse ocurred between the actors automatically “a porno” or not? What if, for example, Nicole Kidman had intercourse with Tom Cruise during the filming of _Eyes Wide Shut_ (or _Far and Away_, if you prefer, since I think at least portions of _Eyes Wide Shut_ could be considered pornographic, myself). They were married at the time, remember. While I understand that filming sex scenes isn’t all that sexy, if I was filming with my husband, I might just say, “Fuck it” (pun intended) and have sex, trusting the director and editor to take care not to show the penetration. Seems easier than fussing with angles and G-strings to make it look like we’re having sex. But, if we imagine for the moment that actual sex happened while filming, does that make it a porno? I don’t think so. I think porn is more about the intent: to get the viewer sexually aroused and encourage masturbation or intercourse. My brother’s got a short film being shown at Sundance this year which features footage of he and his ex-girlfriend having sex. He’s into this art film scene where only “real” footage is used, but is then heavily edited to make a better story than real life. Is it pornographic? Made for some interesting discussions at Christmas, lemme tell ya! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/25 "2005-01-08T14:03:19Z")
Even if she did who would distribute it as a feature? What kind of play did the Brown Bunny get other than some big city arthouse and college theatres? The closest thing I can think of re what you are talking about is when Mimi Rogers did [“Full Body Massage”](http://www.reelcriticism.com/ziggyrealm/reviews/fullbodymassage.html) which was basically a virtually plotless excuse to have some guy spend the better part of an hour massaging her naked body with oil, herbs, and crystals, with lots of attention paid to her huge natural breasts and sweet behind. It’s scripted and acted very much like an artsy porno feature, but it’s mostly plotless and the performances are wooden. It didn’t kill her career, but it didn’t boost it either. ---
**Author:** ![Trekibilia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Trekibilia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trekibilia)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/26 "2005-01-08T20:10:28Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#): > > But still, I’m taking about **XXX Hard Core Porn** rather than just nudity and simulated sex and whatnot. (Hence the crude remark in the OP.) I mean, would it really hurt her career badly, or a career like hers? Since you said Nicole Kidman was just a hypothetical, take a look at… Paris Hilton. Not nearly the stature of Nicole Kidman, but an honest-to-god amateur porno being all but aired on TV only made her career better. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/27 "2005-01-08T20:22:57Z")
> [@Trekibilia](#): > > Since you said Nicole Kidman was just a hypothetical, take a look at… Paris Hilton. Not nearly the stature of Nicole Kidman, but an honest-to-god amateur porno being all but aired on TV only made her career better. \*_What_ career? That porn video is practically the only reason she _is_ famous at all. Nicole Kidman, OTOH, is a well-known, respected actress with actual, you know, _talent_. If it was done in a art-house, indie, _good_ movie, I think it would generate some intriguing, controversial buzz and have little to no negative impact on her career. However, if she were in a standard crappy porn with just a lot of fucking, no way, career suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Qwerty\_not\_Dvorak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/bcef8e/32.png) [@Qwerty\_not\_Dvorak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwerty_not_Dvorak)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/28 "2005-01-08T22:18:07Z")
I’d lose my job, spend all day in the theater, and develop dehabilitating carparal tunnel syndrome? ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/29 "2005-01-08T22:38:19Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > …However, if she were in a standard crappy porn with just a lot of fucking, no way, career suicide. But like the phoenix from the ashes, a new career would arise. What suprises me is that so few (any?) actress take that route. Sure, you may get a _Playboy_ appearance, but I can’t think of any actresses that went to Vivid or something when their careers started tanking. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/30 "2005-01-10T15:04:54Z")
> [@Trekibilia](#): > > Since you said Nicole Kidman was just a hypothetical, take a look at… Paris Hilton. IIRC, that may be what got me wondering. The Hilton sex tape seems to have been good in terms of her career. But it was ostensibly a private tape and she had no acting career to begin with. I got to wondering what a sex tape would do to the career of a top Hollywood actress and I figured she’d be forgiven if the tape was supposed to be private. That got me wondering about a porno. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/31 "2005-01-10T15:12:56Z")
I’ve got about as much desire to see Nicole Kidman nude as I do of seeing Roseanne Barr’s stool sample. Why anyone thinks Nicole is hot is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/32 "2005-01-10T15:38:52Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > IIRC, Chloe Sevigny was given a fair bit of hassle for the blowjob scene in Brown Bunny, so I doubt that we’re quite ready for mainstream porn yet. Yeah, but only about 17 people ever stayed in that film long enough to see the blowjob. Hell, half the audience even walked out at Cannes. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559/33 "2005-01-10T15:43:59Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#): > > IIRC, that may be what got me wondering. The Hilton sex tape seems to have been good in terms of her career. But it was ostensibly a private tape and she had no acting career to begin with. I got to wondering what a sex tape would do to the career of a top Hollywood actress and **I figured she’d be forgiven if the tape was supposed to be private.** That got me wondering about a porno. Pamela Anderson was certainly “forgiven” for the tape of her and Tommy Lee. It took a while, but she ended up with a stronger career post-scandal. But I think someone stealing and airing a privately made tape (especially, in Pamela’s case, one made with your husband) would still be viewed differently from making the career choice to star in a chicken-choker when you had plenty of other roles open to you. The first can be forgiven, as it wasn’t really her fault the tape was stolen. The second? That’s a pretty conscious decision to share her naughty bits with the world. > [@Brutus](#): > > But like the phoenix from the ashes, a new career would arise. > > What suprises me is that so few (any?) actress take that route. Sure, you may get a Playboy appearance, but I can’t think of any actresses that went to Vivid or something when their careers started tanking. Why does that surprise you? No matter how fond we each are personally of pornography, it still has a huge social and professional stigma. Granted a choice of roles, why do the one that’s going to force you into a career where you suddenly have very little choice of roles - just the same one, over and over, with different costumes? Most mainstream actresses started acting because they want to…well, act. And the level of acting on porn is somewhere below community theater. Not to mention the pay scale is nothing like what Kidman can command, and your co-stars aren’t nearly as hot! As for stars going to Vivid when their careers start tanking, I think the ones we consider “stars” don’t need the money, and always hope for a mainstream comeback, so they don’t taint their resume with porn. The lower level ones do plenty of soft-core Skinemax stuff, which pays their bills and doesn’t automatically ruin their career chances at getting back into maintream cinema. (Mimi Rogers already mentioned, Jennifer Connelly was there for a while in the early '90s.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-to-nicole-kidmans-career-if-she-did-a-porno-in-2005/283559.md?page=1)