Nicole Kidman to Receive Honorary Cesar at 2027 Ceremony in Paris

Nicole Kidman will receive an honorary Cesar at the 52nd Cesar Awards on Feb. 25, 2027, at the Olympia in Paris. The Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma announced the honor on Thursday together with broadcaster Canal+.

The academy said the award recognizes an actor and producer who has never allowed fame to steer the work she chooses. That framing matters. Kidman has built a career that moves between Hollywood stardom and auteur cinema, working with directors from Stanley Kubrick and Jane Campion to Lars von Trier, Baz Luhrmann and Yorgos Lanthimos.

What does the honor recognize?

The Australian actor broke through internationally with "Dead Calm" and went on to star in "Moulin Rouge!," "Eyes Wide Shut," "The Others" and "Dogville." She won the best actress Oscar in 2003 for playing Virginia Woolf in "The Hours." In 2024, she took the Volpi Cup for best actress at the Venice Film Festival for "Babygirl."

Kidman also produces. She co-founded Blossom Films, the company behind series including "Big Little Lies," "The Undoing" and "Nine Perfect Strangers" — all of which she also headlined. On stage, she won critical praise in London's West End for "The Blue Room" and "Photograph 51."

Her earlier honors include:

• Companion of the Order of Australia, 2006
• Cannes Film Festival's 70th anniversary prize, 2017
• American Film Institute Life Achievement Award, 2024 — making her the first Australian to receive it

Away from the screen, Kidman serves as a UN Women goodwill ambassador. She has helped raise several million dollars for women's cancer programs, including at Stanford and the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

What does this change for viewers?

Canal+ will carry the Feb. 25 tribute live and exclusively, unencrypted for all viewers. That means anyone in France with a television can watch the ceremony without a subscription, giving the honor an unusually wide audience for a film-industry event.

The choice of Kidman also signals the French academy's continued preference for international stars who bridge commercial and auteur traditions. Her record with Kubrick, von Trier and Lanthimos sits comfortably beside the Cesars' own auteurist identity, and her 2024 Venice win for "Babygirl" keeps her squarely in the contemporary conversation.

The 2027 ceremony will mark the 52nd edition of the awards, France's equivalent of the Oscars, held each year at the Olympia. Kidman's honorary Cesar will place her in the company of past recipients honored by the academy for careers that cross borders and genres.