9 Pics That Ramped Up Nicole Kidman Plastic Surgery Rumors

No matter how successful they get, most Hollywood actors slow down at some point in their careers. Not Nicole Kidman, though. In her fourth decade in the industry, she had eight projects released from 2024 to 2025, with seven more lined up for the following year. With a schedule that busy, you'd think it would show on the Oscar winner's face even a little bit, but aside from being blessed with incredible acting skills, an enviable work ethic, and an eye for projects, Kidman is also fortunate enough to be one of the famous older women who just don't seem to age.

Over the years, Kidman has credited her ageless appearance to a number of things, including wearing SPF consistently, taking care of her skin, staying active, avoiding harmful habits like smoking, and drinking plenty of water, but not plastic surgery or injectables. She has prided herself on being "completely natural," as she told Marie Claire in 2007. "I have nothing in my face or anything. I wear sunscreen, and I don't smoke. I take care of myself," she insisted at the time. Four years later, she revealed in an interview with German magazine TV Movie (via People) that she had "tried Botox" but downplayed it as a one-time experience she wouldn't repeat because she "didn't like how [her] face looked afterwards" and how it left her forehead frozen.

While she's never admitted to undergoing any cosmetic procedure since then, Nicole Kidman's appearance has transformed so dramatically over the years that she's been unable to shake off plastic surgery speculation. And it certainly doesn't help that there are plenty of photos online that have fueled these rumors. 

Nicole Kidman's name was on everybody's lips at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, but it was her shocking appearance that dominated headlines rather than her biopic "Grace of Monaco." The upper half of the then-46-year-old actor's face was noticeably taut, while her cheeks and lips were much plumper than before, triggering a new wave of Botox and filler rumors. She also showed some signs of potential plastic surgery and overfilling. Her left eyelid appeared swollen, making her eyes look mismatched, and one corner of her lips was downturned even when she smiled.

Nicole Kidman sparked rumors that she went under the knife when she graced the red carpet of the Celebrate Life Ball in Melbourne, Australia, in 2014 sporting a much fuller figure than the svelte look she's known for. Rocking a low-cut, embellished gown, the actor proudly showed off her noticeably larger and rounder chest, which some experts said likely got a boost from implants. "It appears [Kidman] has had a pretty impressive breast augmentation," plastic surgeon Dr. Anthony Youn told Radar Online at the time.

It's no secret that Nicole Kidman is among the famous '90s actors who are practically unrecognizable now. However, during a 2016 episode of his eponymous show, host Graham Norton exposed just how massive her transformation has actually been. He showed an '80s magazine cover Kidman posed for when she was a teenager and still wore big, red curly hair. Fans certainly noticed that it wasn't just her hair that had changed, with one YouTube user commenting on the clip: "The old pictures showed how much 'face work' she's done."

Nicole Kidman might have paid her plastic surgeon a visit in the middle of the 2017 awards season as her face underwent a transformation sometime between two major appearances. Less than a week after gracing the Oscars, she looked nearly unrecognizable when she walked the red carpet of the Golden Camera Awards in Germany. Plastic surgeon Daniel Marsh suggested to Express U.K. that Kidman's plumper face could be the result of "dermal fillers which could be hyaluronic acid or possibly fat transfer." According to the expert, "Immediately after injections, the face can be swollen."

Nicole Kidman looked like a Barbie doll come to life during the 2024 Met Gala, but it wasn't entirely because she slayed in her Balenciaga gown. While she nailed the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" theme with her dress, some fans claimed she also veered into uncanny valley territory due to her tight, wrinkle-free visage. One Reddit user observed that Kidman "looks so plastic now," while another claimed that "you can see all the work done to her face" in a photo of her at the annual event.

In recent years, fans noticed something unusual about Nicole Kidman's appearance: her ears looked much more elongated. For instance, photos of her on the red carpet at the 2023 Art Directors Guild Awards showed her earlobes looking unusually stretched even without heavy drop earrings pulling them down. Earlobes do naturally change in appearance over time, but plastic surgery and cosmetic dermatology experts told the Daily Mail it's also possible that a botched facelift or repeated surgeries left Kidman with "pixie ears." 

Nicole Kidman got fans hyped for "Expats" when she posted photos of her and creator Lulu Wang on the set of the Amazon series in May 2022. However, the snaps also left netizens convinced that the actor, who looked incredibly smooth at 55, had work done on her face, pointing out that they could hardly recognize her with toned-down makeup. "You don't look like you Nicole. Please stop," one Instagram user begged. Another observed, "Something in the mouth area no longer looks like Nicole."

For years, fans have called out Nicole Kidman over her stiff face and wooden expressions in her films, claiming that her supposed cosmetic work has affected her actual work as an actor. She added fuel to the rumors that her all-natural claim wasn't entirely truthful when she showed up at the 2024 Gotham Awards with an extremely tight face. Users on X (formerly Twitter) quickly noticed that Kidman's features were barely moving as she was posing for photos, with one claiming (via Radar Online), "She's had too much plastic surgery."

Nicole Kidman and her daughter Sunday Rose, who grew up to be stunning, looked more like sisters than mother and child when they attended a party in January 2025, thanks to the "Babygirl" star's incredibly smooth, unlined appearance. However, while she indeed looked gorgeous and about 20 years younger than her actual age, fans were distracted by the actor's swollen cheeks and protruding lips, speculating that she might have overdone it with fillers or gotten a fresh set of injections for awards season.