Thumbs up ... Nicole Kidman is wonderfully wicked in Paddington. Picture: Studio Canal. Source: Supplied

The evil taxidermist you play in Paddington has been a hit with the critics. Are bad girls as much fun to portray as they are to watch?

They are. I had a blast. My kids would have preferred me to play the bear’s mummy, but that role wasn’t available.

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There have been some really memorable movie villainesses. Do you have a personal favourite?

The Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz. I mean, just crazy, right? With that green face. And it was such a fabulous performance. (Margaret Hamilton) was amazing in that — cackling with all those flying monkeys. I have always been drawn, I suppose, to flawed characters. I don’t know what that says about me. I never wanted to be Dorothy.

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Role of a lifetime ... Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz. Picture: MGM Studios / Getty Images. Source: Getty Images

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I hope your daughters weren’t too traumatised by your metamorphosis in the film.

They haven’t seen it. But they were on the set and they saw the wig go on so for them it’s all make believe.

And let’s face it, everyone has a wicked side if their buttons are pushed hard enough.

I am the complete opposite where I am so affectionate and probably too doting so (my girls) are always: ‘Yeh, yeh, yeh Mum, I know you love me. I know.’ But they love it when I act out all the different roles for them in fairy stories. And my daughter already goes to a little drama school sometimes in the summer holidays.

A lot of people still list your performance in To Die For as one of their all-time favourites. You clearly have a knack for comedy — you’re not tempted to do more?

I don’t really get offered it. I would love to do something else. But I like slightly offbeat comedy — which To Die For was, too. I am not as interested in the straight down-the-line romantic comedies.

Personal favourite ... Kidman in Moulin Rouge. Picture: Sue Adler. Source: News Corp Australia

Do you have a performance you are most proud of, or one that’s dearest to your heart?

Probably Moulin Rouge because I had always wanted to make a love story and I got to play Satine. But I also loved doing Rabbit Hole because we produced that, my company, and it was a labour of love to get it made. It’s an exquisite story about grief and it reaches out and connects to people, even though it’s incredibly harrowing.

Robert Pattinson, who plays Lawrence of Arabia to your Gertrude Bell in Queen of the Desert, told me he was surprised, when he met you, how funny you were. He expected you to be more reserved. Is the public perception of you at odds with the person you really are?

Well I’m shy by nature, more introverted. But I think having kids and my relationship with Keith (Urban) has brought me out more. I am far more extroverted now than I was and probably more trusting. I think that has a lot to do with it, in the sense of just having a partner that really believes in me and protects me and has made me feel safe. And that has actually made me take down some of the shields and barriers that I had to protect myself.

Red carpet cinderella ... Kidman in Sydney. Picture: Andrew Murray. Source: News Corp Australia

That was another gorgeous frock you wore on the red carpet on Sunday. What do you do with all the dresses afterwards? I mean, you can only wear them once.

I give them back. It really is like Cinderella. You wear them once and then they get returned.

I thought maybe you had this huge wardrobe full of flowing gowns.

I do have an amazing collection of vintage dresses because at certain times, like when you go to the Academy Awards, they will let you keep the dress. Those ones are packed up ready for my girls or to donate to a costume institute because a lot of them are extraordinary.

You have to be nominated for an Oscar, then, to actually keep the outfit.

Or be best friends with the designer.

Lucky escape ... Paddington takes the tube. Picture: Studio Canal. Source: Supplied

Watching Paddington, it occurred to me that if Michael Bond’s irrepressible adventurer had chosen a boat that was bound for Australia instead of England, he would currently be languishing in a detention centre on Naru.

He would. Yes. When you are talking about immigration, you are entering into an incredibly complicated discussion that doesn’t have easy solutions but the basis of it being that you need to be compassionate to each other as human beings. That’s very much what Paddington is about. It’s about being kind and being open and being understanding — even on a cultural level — of the way we differ.

It’s not a message movie.

But (those sentiments) do permeate the story. It’s constantly reminding us that we need to be tolerant of each other and we do need to say it’s okay to be different. Because Paddington is different. He keeps saying I am different and the family slowly realises that and they adjust.

The two of us ... Kidman and Keith Urban at the world premiere of Paddington in London. Picture: Jonathan Short/AP. Source: AP

Keith has just been nominated for a couple more Grammys. Is it even more nerve-racking when you attend an award ceremony as his “plus one?”

I don’t know if it’s nerves, and it sounds corny, but it’s so true, when you love somebody so much, for them to get the things that you have seen them working towards, it makes me cry. Because I have seen Keith work, and I mean, he came from nothing, and what he has built himself up to is extraordinary. And for him to get these things at this stage of his life, is emotional is what it is. But also, for any of those awards, there’s also this thing where it’s together. And we always say: this is ours. So whether it’s the Grammys, whether it’s the Oscars, it’s ours. I think a lot of people who are in a relationship know that. It’s always the two of you.

You’ve done a duet with Robbie Williams.

Oh, that was a long time ago. (Laughs)

When are you going to do one with Keith?

No, I’m not. I do not know how I ever ended up doing that duet with Robbie. Somehow in a stupor I went in there and did it. I am so not confident singing. I will sing backups around a piano in our living room. That’s it.

On set ... Nicole Kidman with producer David Heyman. Picture: Studio Canal. Source: Supplied

Paddington opens on December 11

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