Nicole Kidman will become the first Australian actor to receive a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute. 

Dubbed the highest honour in American cinema, the accolade has been won by the likes of Julie Andrews, Al Pacino, Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Meryl Streep Morgan Freeman and many other iconic figures in the industry. 

The Academy Award winner who grew up in Sydney said on social media she was “deeply moved” to be a recipient. 

“Thank you to all of you and to the American Film institute for including me in this illustrious group of honorees — now let’s have some fun!” she wrote on Instagram. 

Earlier, she posted a video of her starring in her first film, Bush Christmas, when she was a teenager in 1983. 

“This 14-year-old girl could never have predicted the talented people she would get to work with and the many different characters she would get to play,” she wrote. 

Streep, Freeman, Reese Witherspoon and Naomi Watts will pay tribute to the actress during the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Lose Angeles. 

“Both a powerhouse performer, spellbinding movie star and accomplished producer, Nicole Kidman has captured the imaginations of audiences throughout her prolific career, delivering complex and versatile performances on-screen,” the initial announcement by the AFI read. 

“She is a force both brave in her choices and bold in each performance. AFI is honoured to present her with the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award.”

Contributions to film

A five-time Academy Award nominee, Kidman’s performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours earned her the Oscar for Best Actress in 2003.

She has also been in notable films such as her breakout role Dead Calm, Batman Forever, Practical Magic, Moulin Rouge, Australia, Rabbit Hole, Paddington, Lion, and To Die For. 

In television, she starred in and produced critically acclaimed shows such as Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Undoing, and Hemingway and Gellhorn. 

Kidman has also enjoyed success in Theatre shows in London’s West End. 

One of Australia’s most successful exports in Hollywood, Kidman was honoured back home with The Companion of the Order of Australia in 2006. 

In 2017, the Cannes Film Festival honoured Kidman with the 70th Anniversary Prize for her body of work and longstanding history with the festival — she is one of only eight people to receive this honour.

The American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 1950 and only 11 women have received it.