Ever wonder what it’s like to play the romantic foil to Nicole Kidman in an erotic thriller—and then find yourself swimming in a sea of unsolicited, eyebrow-raising comments? Well, Harris Dickinson sure does. The 29-year-old actor, who lived the middle-aged bloke’s dream by starring opposite Kidman in the steamy 2024 film Babygirl, recently peeled back the curtain on the bizarre and frankly “unacceptable” attention he’s endured since the movie’s release. Playing the younger love interest to Kidman’s CEO character—a woman frustrated in her sex life with a husband played by the legendary Antonio Banderas—Dickinson found the real-life aftermath far from the cinematic allure. With the stars aligning to cast him in this daring A24 film, one might ask: is it ever easy being the cosmic cupid in Hollywood’s riskiest roles? And with Kidman herself confessing to moments of on-set burnout, you’d think the universe was throwing a Scorpio-level intensity down on this shoot! Dive deeper into the tangled web of fame, passion, and public perception that Harris Dickinson navigates in the wake of Babygirl. LEARN MORE
Actor Harris Dickinson has opened up about the shocking comments he received after working alongside Nicole Kidman in an erotic thriller.
The 29-year-old lived out the dream of many middle-aged blokes by starring as the romantic interest of the Australian actress in the 2024 film Babygirl.
However, he’s now suggested that people did ‘unacceptable’ things to him following the release of the A24 movie, as it brought him a lot of unwanted attention.
In Babygirl, Dickinson plays the younger love interest as Kidman’s CEO character becomes unsatisfied with her sex life with her husband, which seems incredulous when you realise he was played by Antonio Banderas.
Director Halina Reijn admitted that one of the particularly peculiar scenes, which sees the Moulin Rouge star down a glass of milk, was based on a real-life experience and there was already a significant fan following for the film before it even came out, thanks to some steamy admission from the cast.
Naturally, there were a lot of X-rated scenes in a movie that focused on passion and possessiveness, with Kidman even admitting that she had to pause filming on a number of occasions because she simply ‘didn’t want to orgasm any more‘.
“There was an enormous amount of sharing and trust and then frustration. It’s like, ‘Don’t touch me’,” the 58-year-old explained in an interview with The Sun at the time.
Kidman continued: “There were times when we were shooting where I was like, ‘I don’t want to orgasm any more. Don’t come near me. I hate doing this. I don’t care if I am never touched again in my life! I’m over it.’
“It was so present all the time for me that it was almost like a burnout.”

Nicole Kidman stars alongside Harris Dickinson in the film (Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Although Dickinson has landed some big roles off the back of Babygirl, as he’s set to portray John Lennon in the upcoming Beatles biopic, he suggested that there were some things that he didn’t enjoy at all.
During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the British actor said: “If I’m honest, there was a big part of that that I really didn’t enjoy. Speaking openly, I am proud to be a part of that film and proud to have worked on it. I love Halina and working with Nicole was the most exciting thing for me.
“The way that the internet and fans reduced some of it was quite strange but again you can’t really control that or get caught up in it. But people are strange.
“It’s OK to do this to male actors weirdly, that’s the problem. I think it’s become acceptable to do that to younger male actors for example I get a lot of women saying things to me that are deeply inappropriate.
“When I was doing that press and when we were doing Q&A’s and stuff, afterwards there were some situations that were completely unacceptable. You’re expected to just laugh it off. I think that’s why I struggled with that experience.”

Dickinson said he didn’t enjoy a lot of his public interactions after Babygirl (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Dickinson added: “People could say ‘Well, you did a film that you knew was going to be somewhat erotic’. But the film that we made and the approach that Halina spoke about for me, it was something way more unique.
“It wasn’t a reductive thing in my mind. I guess you can’t control the perception of it and the way that people want to talk about it and the narrative. I’m constantly rejecting that a little bit.
“Even on the plane someone was like ‘Can you dance for me? You wont believe what I was [doing] when I watched that film, and I won’t say the rest.’
“I don’t want to know about your sexual experience with this story. It is odd.”
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