
ah, nicole kidman and keith urban. she, an australian film fixture once married to hollywood’s leading man. he, an australian country singer with a nashville heart. together they are a bi-coastal, bi-country, bi-continent power couple. go on, watch them walk down any red carpet together and try to remain uncharmed. they’re two charm factories who make distinctive hair choices! you have no chance! that’s why when she won best actress for her electric big little lies role, and kissed her television husband, the very tall alexander skarsgård, on the lips while her actual husband looked lovingly on, everyone was like, “what? huh? on the lips?”









finally, we have some answers. sort of. well, graham norton of britain’s graham norton show tried to get some answers, while kidman sat next to her killing of a sacred deer co-star colin farrell, who was next to bryan cranston, who was next to matt lucas. he didn’t get answers, per se, but he did get some tv magic.









“i kissed my husband too,” was her first tactic. and then, she said, “i did kiss him because— but you gotta understand, i did everything with alex," nicole said.









“alright i’m backin’ off,” kidman said. “i’ve got an amazing, supportive, gorgeous husband who i love more than anything in the world and i gave alex a congratulatory kiss and he’s like a mannequin.”









the clip is charming. kidman’s charming. she, one of the most beautiful and accomplished women in the world, can’t say the right thing no matter how hard she tries. she’s awash is embarrassment, but also it feels so safe because the couple—kidman and urban, that is—appears to have so much love that that love bubbles up and over, turning an innocent congratulations into a kiss on the lips. there’s enough to go around, it would seem.









this year, kidman has developed a habit of doing a small thing at an award show that becomes a much bigger phenomenon on the internet that night and the following day, and, in the case of the skarsgård kiss, the subsequent weeks. she’s a one-woman meme machine, and who could have seen that coming? who could have thought that in 2017, nicole kidman would be the one bringing unintentional levity to long award shows? anyone?









one of those small things was just being cute on the cannes red carpet with her husband. (he whispered something, but we’ll never know what it is. it’s lost in translation 2: still a little lost!) another time she clapped like a seal at the oscars. (it was a strategy, she explained, for showing appreciation while also protecting the diamonds.) we’ll have to wait and see what kind of nominations kidman racks up for the imminent awards season, but we can only hope the people in charge of seating charts place her firmly in front of a camera. she’s a proven star in this new ad-hoc people’s choice category.