Nicole Kidman Says She's Too Old To Play Her Dream Role

Nicole Kidman just turned 50, and her career is better than ever. Unfortunately, that may not help her land the role she's been eyeing for ages.

The Australian actress spoke to W Magazine about her dream part, and it's a doozy.

"I always wanted to play Natasha in War and Peace," the Big Little Lies star revealed. "But, uh, too late. Too late."

Well, yes and no. While Hollywood rarely misses an opportunity to shun a female star once she hits a certain age, in this case it's a more practical matter. Readers of Leo Tolstoy's epic war-time novel about Russian aristocrats may recall that Natasha (full name: Countess Natalya "Natasha" Ilyinichna Rostov) is only 12 years old when the story begins. The book spans several years, ending when the heroine is 28.

A 27-year-old Audrey Hepburn played the character in the 1956 cinematic version, while Lily James was 25 when she was cast in last year's BBC adaptation.

But hey, if Robin Williams can play Peter Pan, anything is possible. Maybe we just need a longer epilogue?

Kidman told the magazine that the role appealed to her because of her love of literature.

"I grew up watching TV, but I also grew up watching a lot of theater, and I grew up with literature," she said. "That was basically where I molded my imagination and where I could get lost. And I'm still like that. Like, I'll find a book and I can just read and read and read, and it's my protection, it's my sanctuary, it's my place that I can go when I need friends, you know. More than cinema, more than television, more than any of those things, I've found that through books."