Nicole Kidman Slyly Shades Martin Scorsese’s Lack of Female Leads

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The Oscar-winning actress named Scorsese as a director she'd want to work with, "if he does a film with women"

In April, Nicole Kidman delivered a killer speech when accepting the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award that included a list of directors who “took a bet” on her throughout her prolific career. The lineup included the likes of Susanne Bier, Stanley Kubrick, Sofia Coppola, Jane Campion, Gus Van Sant, and more.

In an interview with Vanity Fair published Wednesday, the Oscar-winning actress was asked if there was anyone she hasn’t worked with yet and would want to. “I’ve always said I want to work with [Martin] Scorsese,” replied Kidman, before adding, “If he does a film with women.”

Although Scorsese has a handful of films with female leads, such as Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore — earning Ellen Burstyn an Oscar for Best Actress, Boxcar Bertha with Barbara Hershey, and 1977’s New York, New York with the unforgettable Liza Minnelli, the bulk of his filmography includes male-centric movies. A sample of titles among his list of 26 full-feature films include Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Departed, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, and well, you get the point.

Notably, in 2019, Scorsese’s The Irishman was criticized for its absence its most important female character, Peggy Sheeran, played by veteran actress Anna Paquin. Throughout the 209-minute film, Paquin uttered only seven words. That year, when responding to an Italian reporter who asked Scorsese why his films’ leads are mainly men, with few interesting female narratives, the famed director responded: “If the story doesn’t call for it … it’s a waste of everybody’s time.”