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The senior publicist at PMK/HBH was let go by the actress after 15 years. That's right, 15 years! Sure, like it's Olim's fault that Nicole Kidman is box office poison (because she has zero charisma onscreen: women don't like her and men think she's sexless). "For years Catherine gave her all to this woman, including orchestrating Kidman's victorious Oscar campaign during her heydey and was slavishly devoted to her," a PR source emails me. "Now that the bloom is off Kidman's career, Olim got thrown to the ground. Hollywood is a tough business." Kidman has moved on to Leslee Dart at 42 West. Olim still handles Glenn Close, Ed Harris, Donald Sutherland, Legendary Pictures, and others.
PMK's Catherine Olim Loses Nicole Kidman
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Catherine is terrific. I had one of her clients star in something and she handled him and the press we needed incredibly well. Nicole Kidmans loss for sure.
You nailed it! “..zero charisma,, sexless” and thinking to kill the messenger will help the career. Spineless, nuevo riche’ , tactless, plastic. But then again, has she done anything recently? or anything in the can for release?
Nikki..not a fan of Ms Kidman are we;-)
Seems your bashing of her has no limits! Sheesh! How about supporting your own gender in the land of ‘Man & Big Ego only’ ?
C’mon now! She is alright. She has appeared in some good movies that unfortunately, not for the massess.
There is nothing wrong in changing one’s agent is there? I mean, not every married couple live happy ever-after you know.
Kidman should fire her plastic surgeon, not her publicist-Nicole looks like she had been embalmed! And her acting is certainly post-mortem.
Next up – Lose Kevin Huvane. He’s the one who’s wrecking her career. I don’t get what’s so great about him. He was also responsible for that horrible movie RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, and now he’s put Julia Roberts with that horrible director of his in EAT PRAY LOVE. Which is my exact advice to his clients. Eat crow, Pray that he still Loves you or he’ll never call you back!
From someone who works with him but wishes she didn’t.
“Nicole Kidman has zero charisma onscreen because women don’t like her and men think she’s sexless.”
Stay classy, Nikki.
That sucks for Olim, but you can’t really blame Kidman.
Deserved or not, she’s taken a beating from the press over the last few years and is now considered box office poison.
Why shouldn’t she make a change?
And…”men think she’s sexless”. Who, gay men?
Where do you get this stuff? Women like Kidman. She’s one of the few actresses (and actors) who has some humility and honesty and is not totally uncouth. She also doesn’t do the usual self-congratulatory exploitative BS most other actresses participate in. Who do you favor? Jolie? LOL.
For the record, I’m a man and I don’t find her sexless.
PMK/HBH & Olim will survive this.
Kidman will end up starring in a TV series sometime around 2010 or 2011.
It’s that or oblivion for her!
Her movie career is toast!
Catherine is a master of the biz and I don’t think 42 West can do anything to fix up the box office rut that Nicole has been in. That is a larger problem and not at all a reflection on the work Catherine has done. She dots her “I”s and crosses her “T”s like few others and Nicole was lucky to have her.
Sounds like someone here has an axe to grind. Wonder what that’s about?
Cry me a river.Olim knew the business she got into.
Catherine Olim is a very good publicist and so is Leslie Dart. Fifteen years is a long time — longer than most Hollywood relationships — and shows loyalty. Where is it written that an actress must stay with a publicist until death do they part? Why so harsh on this girl?
What a bizarre move. I’m going to maybe be a bit unpopular and say that as far as aggressive heft Dart has more game than Olim, but as far as Kidman goes, who really cares?
Olim has continually pushed her (publicity wise) into a totally undeserved status…i.e. getting her a Vogue cover for the completely unanticipated Australia.
If Kidman seriously thinks that career-wise a change in publicist is the answer, she’s in for a big surprise.
Sorry to be a mean, but the “box office” tittle tattle that surrounds her project-wise is not b/c people think she has the wrong publicist.
Nicole has the personality of wet cardboard onscreen and costs the studios just as much as they make off her boring films where her face is often frozen solid. I don’t think at this point that Catherine’s losing too much because Kidman ain’t making much. Hardly a loss. Besides, Catherine needed a break after putting up with her through the Cruise/Scientology years.
It’s hardly Olim’s fault for bad career choices. If NK does one more remake I’ll scream!
I sense Kidman is finally doing the right thing. Have you seen her recently? Totally unbotox and looking more natural than she has in over the last ten years. If Olim was so good, Kidman would have got the public perception of her years ago. Instead Olim has been protecting her client from all that.
This is not the end of Kidman….it’s the beginning.
If Kidman is such a cold fish and lost cause then anyone who worked as her publicist all these years would be a fool, now wouldn’t they?
Looking under her wig, nothing is going on for Nicole..period.
I have never seen any actress ever go from white hot to DOA so fast with no real explanation. Give it up for now, she has to go away and try again after re-inventing herself.
nikki i feel nicole is being punished for doing independent cinema. if you look at her track record since (or including) the hours it’s clear her focus has been taking risks with interesting directors. sure, some have worked better than others, but i don’t believe for her it’s about “being at the top of the game” nor getting 20 mil for her next film. i still feel she is unrivalled in her acting ability compared to all the current crop, and think she’ll last longer this way as well.
All of these nasty comments about Nicole Kidman. Why does everyone dislike her so much!?
It sounds like she’s got some bad p.r.! Maybe this is a good change!
Besides, when has acting ability ever been reflected in the box office?
Very good move. Good for Nicole. Olim is a bad publicist.
meow!
When she’s interviewed she seems really nice. (Nicole) When she’s in a movie, I’m almost repelled by her. There’s some sort of disconnect going on. She needs to learn to relax on screen or something. She needs to get dirtied up a bit. She should go work in a refugee camp for a year and get rid of that hollywood gloss. Then come back to film. I’d give the same advice to many of the male so called “stars”. They need to go join the army or work on a fishing boat in alaska (with Sarah Palin?) for a year. It’ll mature them, if they survive. None of the actors working in film today have that “I’ve lived life look”. They all look and act like pampered twits and Americans aren’t putting up with that anymore.
Maybe Nicole did Catherine Olim a favor.
You ever think of that?
Are you kidding? Nicole Kidman killed it in “Eyes Wide Shut.” And her performances in “Far and Away” and “To Die For.”
But, yeah, the last time she looked mad good was in “The Interpreter.”
Can you act under all that botox? Not really, all the expression vanished from her face years ago. It will be fun to watch Leslee Dart handle the Rachel Weisz brouhaha regarding her interview in the UK about the banning of botox for actors where it appears NK got named as the queen. Movie stardom is about heat and NK is one cold cadaver.
Speaking as a straight male, yeah, actually, I do find Nicole Kidman sexless and lacking in charisma. I have never understood this woman’s appeal. She is one of the few actresses who causes me NOT to see a movie she’s in.
While I grant she is a star, she is not a box-office draw and those are two very separate things nowadays. Though it’s certainly possible to be both, people often forget that they can be mutually exclusive.
In regards to her publicity, well, she divorced Tom Cruise and signed her kids away to him and then married an alcoholic. How can any publicist save her from that?
Leave Nicole Kidman alone! It’s not her fault that she’s turned herself into the female Michael Jackson with a frozen, plastic-y face! Oh, wait, it IS her fault. While other women her age like Dianne Lane have allowed themselves to age gracefully, Kidman fell into the Hollywood rubberface trap and now looks like something out of a vampire movie.
As for “sexless,” I’ve got to agree. She comes off as an ice queen, like a human Barbie Doll, tall, plastic and with no sex parts. Perhaps it’s her icky roles in such “great” movies as Margot at the Wedding where she played an utter creep or any of the other 20 creep roles she’s played over the last few years, but she just generally comes across as a man-hating creep.
Nichole only shines in the quirky roles. For whatever reason she’s never been able to open a movie as a mainstream leading lady. It’s all about knowing one’s strengths. Who can blame her for trying to cash in?, but the experiment has run way past conclusive – She’s had way more opportunities than most to demonstrate that she can put butts in seats and the simple fact is she can’t.
She should now focus on carefull selection of roles, much as Daniel DeLewis does – a couple of odd role, played in the twisted way she can do so well, and she could be legend.
Nicole is finally breaking free from the control freak Olim.
Reality is Olim as the publicist was responsible for all the negative press on Nicole, especially the crap Nicole got over Baz’s ‘AUSTRALIA’ where Nicole got a hammering and no one stepped in to save her.
Nicole is an Aussie girl who knows there is more to life than Hollywood, now family & marriage is number one….and choosing roles she really wants to do, no simply to win an oscar, as she’s climbed that mountain… her priority now is to enjoy life…….finally. Good Luck to her.
I am a woman and love Nicole Kidman. My husband loves her, too. She has really done some incredible work in the last 10 years including The Others, Moulin Rouge, The Hours, Dogville, and Margot At The Wedding. I really feel like something wonderful happened to her once she got out from under Tom Cruise’s thumb. She became interesting and intense and DARK. I appreciate her bold choices and willingness to do indie film (like working with Lars Von Trier). I look forward to seeing how she continues to grow as an actor.
You know what – my world will continue to revolve if Nicole Kidman is never seen in another movie again.
And Nikki, you are right – she has zero charisma and she’s definitely sexless, especially with that ice queen stare.
Remember that for many many years Catherine and Leslee worked together on Nicole’s career as they were both at PMK/HBH. Catherine was LA, Leslee was New York. Blame Pat for firing Leslee not Leslee for getting her client back. She is a class act.
Yes, do let’s cry for the poor publicist. WTF, Nikki?
I agree with you once again Nikki, I never thought Nicole could act, and she lacked that bubbly personality, you need to sell your movies. I have never ever liked any of her movies, starting way back from Days of Thunder. Maybe instead of firing her publicist she should take acting lessons, get rid of the botox and become a natural woman. *shudders*
It’s one thing in Hollywood I can’t stand fake plastic people!
Nicole Kidman is a Goddess! She looks like one of those classic Hollywood movie star idols! She and Angelina Jolie are probably the best looking and most talented female actors popular today! Nicole is a great actress! She won an Oscar for the Hours and she was marvelous in Moulin Rouge, Australia, The Others, etc. I haven’t seen all her movies but the ones I’ve seen I’ve liked alot! Please don’t pick on her she’s a nice person!
And I think the Micheal Jackson coverage was well deserved and necessary! He was a great man, and not a villain as some sick people would like to believe. Ignore ignorant people like Bill O’Reilly who I’ve heard is a douche bag!
Publicists are slightly higher up the moral food chain from agents. They work hard, sure, but let’s not make them out to be pro bono lawyers or doctors without borders.
Kidman has the ultimate say as to which films she does and she has chosen poorly lately. The plastic surgery was her choice too.
No one is a victim here.
‘Nuff said.
However terrible a professional departure may be, excuse me for not feeling any pity towards anyone involved in PR. “She slaved for fifteen years”, “the best years of Kidman’s career”? And you thought that that did not count for anything in her daily life? Who are we kidding? An actor changed PR hacks, such is life. But the twisted logic of this post gets even worse. Her career is not what it once was? Then she would be glad to have her off her back, wouldn’t it? It is either that or the still-big diva dumped the PR hack. And I find the unloading of multiple choice of adjectives pretty obnoxious. What’s her attractiveness or not got to do with this? I’m no fan of the actress but this is apples and oranges. Or the need to blog.
As Ben said, when Leslee was at PMK she was Nic’s lead publicist post-Tom Cruise divorce. She was the one majorly responsible for her Oscar campaign and win for THE HOURS.
“Nicole Kidman has zero charisma onscreen because women don’t like her and men think she’s sexless.”
Couldn’t say I disagree more, Nikki. Kidman’s icy, sure, but definitely sexy and beuatiful.
It’s funny that when Kidman and Cruise were married they were both more appealing, now they both seem so damn odd! Even her, she seems cold and calculated. I would’ve never thought that about her in the past but some of her decisions prove otherwise.
She was very cute at the start in ‘Dead Calm’ but now she is exactly as Nikki describes her. Utterly without screen appeal. The stiff, cold, emotionally dead character she played in the Golden Compass is the perfect encapsulation of her image. No facial expressions and a rod up her, uh, back.
Someone mentioned Diane Lane, now there is a naturally gorgeous woman who can out-act Kidman a hundred times over. I saw a movie recently because she was in it, I would never do that with Kidman.
I find it gross that this is actually news. It’s sad that people take the time to write this stuff. Everyone in this business gets hired and fired all the time. who cares!
Nicole may well make a minor comeback (or at least dust off some of the taint from the string of dreadful remakes she was in) over the next year when “Nine” (with Daniel Day-Lewis) and the new John Cameron Mitchell flick “Rabbit Hole” that’s currently filming in NYC are released. And she SHOULD fire Kevin Huvane who’s wrecked the career of every 40 year old actress on his client list by shoving them into bloated trash just so he can pick up ten percent of a bigger paycheck.
Kidman is doing fine, dont worry about her, Nikki. I know you secretly adore her:) Her latest critically panned-film earned US$211M worldwide…. you know, even Jolie’s period film (Oscar-nominated Changeling)couldnt make that much. Sure she is hated by the Americans/media BUT she does have an overseas audience.
I think I would actually congratulate Catherine Olim. Nicole’s career is over, and her plastic surgery was very distracting in “Australia.” Go concentrate on some fresh talent instead of this has been.
One more tired retread of the “contract employee got burned when employer chose not to renew contract” theme. These stories (and these emotions) are NONSENSE. Regardless of NK’s qualities (positive or negative), if her publicist got paid on time while she worked for her, that’s all NK owes her. I, for one, am sick and tired of the dictum that an actor (or musician, or writer, or painter) owes anyone beyond the boundaries of the signed contract between them.
I’m sorry, but I love Nicole Kidman. I think she’s a brilliant actress. I didn’t always think so, but the last 5 years or so I think she’s become remarkable.
Relationships, professional or otherwise change, that’s life. Who knows what really went on behind the scenes and I’m sure it was just as difficult of a decision for Nicole to make as it was for her publicist to hear the news.
Here’s to wishing Nicole nothing but the best. My friends that have worked with her say she’s wonderful. So, God bless her. Keep doing you,, Nicole and don’t listen to the naysayers.
It’s so lowbrow to insist all women actors have to have “sex appeal”. Is this porn we’re making? (Answer is yes, looking at the new crop of young female stars). Nicole Kidman has had stinkers, just like every single male star in existence has had stinkers, but she’s also done roles and films of a caliber many male stars will never have on their resume. Yeah, she does have a cool, reserved style. So? That’s exactly what’s called for in certain films and roles. Perhaps that’s where Kidman has made mistakes in recent choices, wrong roles for her personality.
First, my gay friends all love Nikki.
As for me having seen her in person w/o the security, she is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.
Secondly she has projected her sexuality in almost every movie she has made. That’s one of the reason’s we straight men lover her.
Secondly, she is modest in person, I remember her shyness when she took the stage in Toronto for the Dogville premiere.
Like Bette Davis, ( Wicked Stepmother White Mama), her career will continue to the grave and hopefully beyond that. When I requested an interview from PMK I was declined hopefully 42 will give her a boost in ratings beyond Jennifer Anniston and Angelina.
Her talent in Margot at the Wedding, Dogville etc and Cold Mtn., will play well into her next dramatic lead.
I agree with Nikki. Nicole Kidman is a snooze fest. Although she’s done some good work, I find her incredibly boring as an actor and totally uninteresting both off and on screen. There’s nothing exciting about her…nothing real…nothing that really grips you. She just seems that she tries to be too perfect, and I find this somehow come accross in her work.
I’m sure Hollywood can do this to a woman – make them feel that they must be perfect at all times, but it only works to the detriment of actresses, in my view. Perfect is borning, it’s not interesting – female actors need to really show their flaws because that’s what makes them human, and can make an audience identify and relate to them and want to see more…but Nicole just seems all too vacant and snobby for anyone to really appreciate her humanity.
Just look at Meryl Streep, how she holds nothing back and goes for it and doesn’t care about being “pretty”, and yet – she’s so absolutley luminous…all actresses need to take a page out of her book.
publicists of the a-list are nothing more than better dressed air traffic controllers. with that said, olim is one of the most dedicated in the biz and she’s better off w/o the structurally transitioning actresses draining more of her life blood.
Anonymous, your pointing out the difference between Kidman and Streep is idiotic considering, for many years, Streep was painted with the same brush as Nicole is nowadays (”not likable, cold fish” etc). Face it, Kidman is better in indie films where roles are actually challenging. Nobody could have been good in those shit remakes she was forced into in recent years by Huvane. Not even Streep. And, as someone else mentioned above, why the hell does every actress have to have “sex appeal”? If the audience wants to get their rocks off, there’s porn for that. Keep your Megan Fox trash and leave the movies to real actresses like Kidman.
I also saw Nic in person… a fews back mind you in the year of her oscar win as I recall at the Toronto Film Festival for The Human Stain. She was astonishing look in the flesh, one of the most beautiful movie stars I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe she’s aged / turned into plastic in that short period. Sounds like sour grapes to me.
What I don’t get while reading these comments is the underlying feminist theme. Regardless, Hollywood is all about making a fast $$.
It doesn’t matter if they are a man or woman, I think we can agree most of what comes out of that glamorous sesspool are crappy films. Occasionally someone breaks ranks and actually makes a real film (Cohens/Tarantino) and the actors and actresses shine because the script, directing and acting all fall into place.
Back on topic…Nicole Kidman is a porcelain doll. Sure, any guy who say’s he wouldn’t like a roll in the hay is either lying or gay. Problem is Nicole Kidman is Nicole Kidman. Empty and stupid like most of Hollywood.
Just look at Meryl Streep, how she holds nothing back and goes for it and doesn’t care about being “pretty”,
I have to agree. In Mama Mia she starts an ABBA tune horribly- knows it but keeps going…30 seconds later she’s got it down and soaring.
I disagree with you Nikki, I love Nicole Kidman, and think she is one of the best actress of this generation.
I would f*ck Nicole in a heart-beat. This man thinks she way sexy!
I agree 100% with you Nikki! She has the personality of a puff adder and absolutely no scope. She’s exactly the same in every single movie, a critic hit the nail on the head when talking about Australia the movie….”She can’t act. Instead, she drifts around films like a lost porcelain doll, looking frozen, brittle and vapid, staring at the camera with her oh-golly-look-how-I’m-looking-interesting blue eyes. “
Didn’t Kidman just bail on the new Woody Allen film? I was looking forward to seeing her with Aussie gal pal Naomi Watts, preferably in a steamy love scene similar to Naomi’s Mulholland Drive. *gasp*…*drool*
If you don’t think of Kidman as a good enough actor, then watch her in “Dead Calm”, 1989 – she is excellent and carries the whole movie. And if you don’t think she’s sexy, then you’re either blind or gay. I really think her choice in films is what’s spoiling her career. More films like, “To Die For”, & “The Others” and less like, “The Invasion”, & “Bewitched”. I guess she needs new management.
Hi – I left the anon comment about how Meryl Streep holds nothing back and just goes for it.
Dorothy Palmer – I find your comments a bit harsh.
useful info – I will have to check out that film. This conversation has inspired me to perhaps take a look at some of Nicole’s older works, and Meryl’s as well. However, I don’t agree with “I guess she needs new management”. While that may be true, I believe that anyone who works in the entertainment industry, or any industry or business at all for that matter – is ultimately responsibly for their own choices at the end of the day. Blaming one’s “management” – if that is in fact the case for Nicole here, is really a sad and pathetic “passing of the buck” which I find distasteful. While a poor manager may influence someone’s career south, the client has to ultimately be held responsible for either choosing to stay with said poor manager, leaving, or making any other number of changes and choices to alter the course of their lives and careers. Nicole is in charge of her own career direction at the end of the day. But if she feels that a fresh perspective is what she needs, all the more power to her.
Nicole is as appealing as a corpse to look at. Even in interviews she appears fake and plastic. Her acting is atrocious. Catherine couldn’t save her, no one can. They need to stop hiring Nicole and wasting money.
Neither my wife nor I like her at all.
I could take or leave Nicole… She used to play tennis at North Sydney Girls High and she was a bit posh but nice enough, even when she started starring in local productions back then. But loved her in Flirting and Dead Calm as well as To Die For, and I forgot who she was in The Others and The Hours – in both she was really immersed in the characters; great work. In Dogville she was flat out brave. Good on her for trying roles out of the box. IMO she’s waiting for the botox to subside so she can reclaim her face, the perfect script, director, editor and cinematographer! When those stars finally align – and they will – she’ll blow us all away.
So she left her PR flack after 15 years. That sounds like 150 in ‘Hollywood years’ to me (same as dog years but a bit longer). Also, can someone explain why is this Huvane character poison for actors?? Grazia.
Does anyone remember the fun, sexy Nicole Kidman long ago in films like “To Die For” and “Flirting” ? Or the stern, effective actress in “The Others” and “The Hours”? She was not always the woman she has become.
I don’t know what happened, and I can’t disagree that she has become plastic and a turn-off. But there was once a time when she was magnetic.
Olim and Kidman are both unappealing people. Dart is only slightly more appealing. The bigger issue for Olim, is that she’s one of those veteran/dinosaur publicists whose self-image depends upon the weight of her client list. She is one of the many who truly believe their clients are their best friends; when you give your all to your work and have no personal life, when you just live to appear in the same red carpet shot as your client to validate your self-worth, devastation occurs when you get fired, and that’s truly sad. Olim and Dart were compadres and shared many clients at PMK before Dart was fired (mostly because so many of the other PRs @PMK in NY couldn’t handle with working with Olim’s imperious and downright nasty demeanor) but since that split, they have been competitors and this “steal” of Dart’s has to hurt Olim very deeply. I don’t feel sorry for Olim because she is really unpleasant to work with and karma, as it turns out, is a bigger bitch than she is. But as far as the PR work, Olim managed Kidman’s image in such a way that she remained cold and unapproachable – perhaps they believed it was the appropriate tack to make her seem regal, precious, and above it all when the way she looks should have been countered by a more warm, humorous, open, inviting media presence…that would truly dazzle. But perhaps Kidman simply doesn’t possess those personality traits and is really not a good enough actress to pretend she is a nicer person than she appears. Either way, life goes on for both – Olim will heal and Kidman will learn pretty quickly that it is she that must change, and make better choices (and lay off the facial fillers!) if she wants to win back the media and her audience. Try a screwball or high-brow comedy – it may not win awards but it’s really her forte. Of course, her face has to move for comedy, so…
Nicole Kidman sexless? Only a woman or gay man could say something like that.
The only nice thing that I can think of to say about Nicole Kidman is that she’s taught me that life is for living. Whenever her movies are on TV I always switch them off and go do something instead. She really does suck as an actress! She’s the same in every film: whispers her lines; acts in a self-conscious manner and is what you’d call wooden. I hope her new publicist has the guts to tell her that she needs to take acting lessons.