Nicole Kidman gave Australian fans the surprise of a lifetime when she unexpectedly appeared at a Sydney screening of Practical Magic 2 on Friday night.
The 59-year-old Oscar winner returned to her hometown to personally welcome moviegoers to a special preview of the long-awaited sequel, 28 years after she and Sandra Bullock first cast their spell on audiences as sisters Gillian and Sally Owens.
And Nicole didn’t arrive empty-handed. In a delightful nod to one of the original movie’s most beloved scenes, the Australian star handed out “midnight margaritas” before raising her own glass in a toast to the packed cinema.
“Stand up everyone and raise your glasses,” she told the delighted audience at Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter before making her way through the theater and clinking glasses with fans.
Nicole’s surprise was met with cheers and ultimately a standing ovation, while photographs from the evening show the actress raising a margarita alongside the audience.
Nicole Kidman looks ‘practically magical’ in romantic white dress
For her homecoming, Nicole leaned firmly into the whimsical aesthetic of the beloved franchise. The actress looked beautiful in an ivory satin dress featuring a plunging panel of delicate lace across the bodice, with the fabric gathering elegantly at her hips before falling into an asymmetric skirt.
Red roses were embroidered across the neckline and hem, providing a subtle nod to the flowers that have long been woven into the imagery of Practical Magic.
© Getty Images for Universal PictuNicole completed the look with a white satin neck scarf and striking red pointed heels, while her long blonde hair fell in relaxed waves around her shoulders.
The star was photographed surrounded by an elaborate display of red, white and purple flowers at the event before raising a glass with the audience inside the theater.
Her appearance came just days after she reunited with Sandra at the movie’s Los Angeles premiere, where the pair celebrated bringing the Owens sisters back to the big screen nearly three decades later.
Sandra Bullock sends special message to Sydney
Although Sandra wasn’t able to join her on the trip Down Under, Nicole made sure her on-screen sister was part of the evening. “Sandy says hi,” she told the audience. “She’s in Texas doing the same thing that I’m doing, but I’m here in Sydney with you.”
Nicole then revealed just how important the fans had been in making a sequel possible. “All of you found the film and have supported it, and it was kind of like us answering the calling,” she said. “So hopefully, you love it as much as we do.”
Her words echo what Nicole has been saying throughout the film’s promotional tour. The original Practical Magic wasn’t a major critical success when it arrived in 1998, but gradually developed an extraordinarily devoted following.
© FilmMagic“It was the fans,” Nicole recently said of the sequel finally happening. “It was an actual demand from people. They were like, ‘Do we get this? Can we please?'”
She similarly explained at the film’s London premiere that the story had eventually “found its way” to an audience after initially reaching fewer people than its stars had hoped.
Nicole Kidman reflects on remarkable 28-year milestone
For Nicole, returning to Gillian at 59 has also carried a significance that goes beyond nostalgia. Addressing the Sydney audience, she reflected on how remarkable it is that she and Sandra are still being given the opportunity to lead a major studio movie almost three decades later. “It’s really lovely 28 years later as women to be able to still be here,” she said. “So thank you for decades and decades of support. I love you.”
It’s something she has spoken candidly about during the press tour. “If you told us 28 years ago that as women, we would still be able to star in a huge studio movie and carry it, we wouldn’t have believed it,” Nicole said at the European premiere.
“We’re hoping we pass the baton to our beautiful baby witches and at the same time, it’s so lovely still being given the spotlight.”
© AFP via Getty ImagesNicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock’s special bond
Nicole and Sandra have also spoken about how easily they slipped back into their characters despite the decades that had passed. “Nic and I are very different,” Sandra recently explained. “But our differences create the most fabulous dynamic.”
“Whether we are fighting or loving on each other, we need each other,” she added. “You can’t explain ‘chemistry,’ it just is. And we have it.”
The sequel sees Nicole and Sandra return as Gillian and Sally alongside original stars Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing, with Joey King and Maisie Williams joining the Owens family’s next generation.
Directed by Susanne Bier and inspired by Alice Hoffman’s The Book of Magic, the story once again centers on the Owens family’s magical legacy and the bonds between generations of women.
Practical Magic 2 opens in Australian cinemas on September 10. But before leaving her hometown audience to finally discover what has become of the Owens sisters, Nicole had one final message for the people who helped bring them back. “Thank you for decades and decades of support,” she told them. “I love you.”
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