Nicole Kidman Has Curls Again – And They’re Everything

Nicole Kidman is one of her generation’s pre-eminent chameleons. Portraying characters as wide-ranging as a tubercular cabaret star in fin de siècle Paris to a SoCal stay-at-home mom with a painful secret, the Academy Award winner is so famous for her on-screen transformations that Vulture did an official ranking of her wigs. Off-screen, however, Kidman has generally stuck to long, straight, blonde hair for over 20 years — though that hasn’t stopped fans from clamoring to see her natural red curls. And they were (somewhat) rewarded by a Jan. 4 airport outing, during which the actress was spotted with tousled, strawberry-tinged curls.

Catching a flight with daughters Faith and Sunday, Kidman was snapped at the Sydney Airport with long curls cascading past her shoulders, loose enough that they verged into waves territory. While the color was still firmly in the blonde family, there was a warmth to the shade that hinted at strawberry undertones.

Though the style wasn’t nearly as tight or as red as the natural hair with which she came onto the scene, the curls were still evocative of bygone eras in the Aussie actor’s storied career; specifically, the late 1990s, by which time she had already committed to blonde life. (Outside of a famous role or two, of course.)

The hair was undoubtedly the headline, but make no mistake: The whole look was a masterclass in effortless travel beauty. Along with soft pink lips and cheeks that created a “no-makeup makeup” vibe, the actress wore a trendy milky white mani in a practical short length, perfect for lugging around a carry-on — or, in a global superstar’s case, waving off the paparazzi.