Nicole Kidman has revealed that bad breath is a major turn-off for her when filming intimate scenes. The Oscar-winning actress, 58, spoke on the podcast Las Culturistas about her acute sense of smell, saying it can make or break a scene.
“I’m very very smell sensitive,” Kidman said. “I’m either drawn to or drawn away based on a smell.” She explained that an actor’s bad breath is her biggest dealbreaker, adding: “You could be the most gorgeous guy, and you come at me with bad breath and I’m like no, no, no. If I say breathe on me and I have to recoil? I’m out.”
Kidman recalled a specific incident with Alexander Skarsgård on the set of Big Little Lies, where he played her abusive husband. She said she reprimanded him for eating a falafel sandwich before their intimate scenes, telling him: “I’m meant to be kissing you and into you. Put away the falafel now. Because the bad breath does not turn me on.”
The actress emphasised the importance of oral hygiene, saying: “It is very important to smell good but more importantly, the mouth — the taste of the mouth and the smell of the mouth — is very important to me.” She joked that Skarsgård likely never ate falafel before a kissing scene again.
Kidman also named Rihanna as the best-smelling person she has ever met, describing her scent as “intoxicating”. The comments come as Kidman navigates her recent divorce from Keith Urban after 19 years of marriage.
