- Written by André Roden-Paul
- bbc news
Nicole Kidman said after receiving the American Film Institute (AFI) Lifetime Achievement Award that it was an honor to make the film.
Kidman, 56, became the first Australian actor to be given the organization's highest honour.
The Moulin Rouge actress was presented with a prestigious award by Meryl Streep in Hollywood.
Other stars in attendance included her husband, singer Keith Urban, and her Big Little Lies co-star Reese Witherspoon.
Kidman, who accepted the award in a sparkling floor-length gold dress by Balenciaga, thanked all the directors she has worked with over the years.
“It's an honor to make movies, and it's an honor to make movies and television with these storytellers. They give me the freedom to play these unconventional women. “I was able to do that,” she said.
“Thank you for improving my skills and giving me a place in this world, even if only temporarily.”
During the ceremony, Kidman teared up as she said her husband showed her “what love in action looked like” when she discovered she had a substance abuse problem shortly after they married in 2006. did.
“I've been married for four months, but I've been in rehab for three months,” Urban told Kidman and her two teenage daughters on their first red carpet appearance.
“Nick pushed through all the negative voices, and I'm sure some of her own, but she chose love. And 18 years later, here we are.”
Australian actors Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Cate Blanchett also paid video tribute to their country's first actor to win the award.
Previous recipients of the award, which AFI calls “American film's highest honor,” include Streep, Julie Andrews, Denzel Washington, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.
Kidman broke into Hollywood when she co-starred with Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder in 1990, and married him the same year.
She divorced him in 2001, but her stardom grew even more after that.
She received her first Oscar nomination in 2001 for Moulin Rouge and won Best Actress in 2003 for Time.