What Does Nicole Kidman's Natural Hair Really Look Like?

The Nicole Kidman who wrote her name in showbiz history as a Hollywood powerhouse may sport straight blond hair. But the young actor who climbed through the ranks in her native Australia before bursting onto the international scene in the early '90s had curly red hair. Kidman actually rocked her fiery curls for quite a while before going blond. Older readers might remember how different her hair looked in "Days of Thunder" in 1990 or even in "Eyes Wide Shut" at the turn of that decade.

It wasn't until the early '00s that Kidman swapped red for blond. Her curls, on the other hand, started becoming smoother much earlier. Kidman's transformation was slow, with transitional periods that led from tight coils to bigger ringlets that eventually became straight by the late '90s. At the premiere of "The Others" in 2001, she wore her hair in a shade of strawberry blond, while her curls were pretty much entirely in the past. By 2002, when she earned an Oscar nomination for "Moulin Rouge!," Kidman was straight-up blond.

She changed her mane masterfully, to the point the public now associates Kidman with her signature long, blond hair. However, she still occasionally wears her hair in waves and has done so for years. But it looks purposeful, as if done with a curling iron and not as an embrace of her natural hair. At this point, the straight hair is her natural look. After so many years of chemicals and straightening procedures, Kidman's curls are damaged beyond repair.

Nicole Kidman regrets losing her natural curly hair

If she could go back in time, Nicole Kidman would have kept her natural curls intact. However, when she was younger, she was a fan of the popular look at the time — which couldn't have veered farther off from the physical traits she was born with. "I really wanted to have that suntanned skin and long blonde hair," she told Who magazine in 2017, adding, "I wanted to conform and be the Aussie beach girl. And I was never going to be that." To get close to it, she began straightening her spiral curls.

It took her years to appreciate her natural hair, but it was too late. "I wish I had my curls back," she said. "I tortured them to death. I always say, 'Don't ruin the ringlets!'" With time, she also started to value her natural face more. Now, Kidman prefers wearing little makeup, an approach she'd like to be able to take with her hair. "I wish I had left my hair alone," she told Pop Sugar (via Female First). "Because I kept straightening it I would always be told, 'Your curls are so beautiful' and I never believed them."

With hindsight on her side, Kidman sees that her desire to be blond and have straight hair stemmed from being an introvert wanting to fit in. And her natural looks made her stand out. "I was very tall and very pale. I had red, curly hair and I was covered in freckles," she told the BBC.