Daniel Craig can’t stand listening to Nicole Kidman. In fact, it’s so painful that he has stuck his fingers in his ears and is humming loudly to drown her out. Meanwhile, Kidman is happily responding to a question about whether the 38-year-old actor changed after landing his role as James Bond last year.
“Oh, completely,” deadpans Kidman, 39, who was with him, shooting one of their upcoming films, The Invasion, when he got the call. “In 24 hours he became a diva,” she adds, with a nod toward Craig, who continues to hum his tune as the pair sit in the cozy bar of a London photography studio, where they’re sharing a bottle of sparkling water. But then Kidman breaks down and tells the truth: “Oh, he didn’t change at all,” she says in her haute-Aussie twang. “The thing about Daniel, and the reason I like working with him, is that he’s an actor’s actor.”
Of course, Craig has heard the whole thing, and he seems far more alarmed by the compliment than by the faux insult. “How dare you!” he shouts, and they both giggle.
It is a chilly, slate gray autumn Saturday, and Kidman, who’s barefoot and still wearing a caffe latte–colored Dior gown from the fashion shoot, and Craig, in a navy blue cardigan more suited to Mister Rogers than Mr. Bond, are punchy after a long day posing under hot lights. On Monday they’ll return to the London set of The Golden Compass, a fantasy-adventure film based on the first book in Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials. The movie, to be released later this year, is their second collaboration, the first being The Invasion, which is loosely based on Invasion of the Body Snatchers and is also due out in 2007.
