Nicole Kidman dedicated her come back to London’s West End to her father who was a biochemist and to all other research scientists who were not given proper recognition.
Nicole Kidman has arrived! From 5th Sept in the UK premiere of Photograph 51 at Noel Coward http://t.co/u9cc5X2x0o pic.twitter.com/LXbzmxQOVe
— LOVEtheatre.com (@LOVEtheatrecom) September 3, 2015
Kidman portrays Rosalind Franklin, a British scientist, in the play Photograph 51. Franklin who made a great contribution in discovering the structure of DNA in 1953 was never recognized until her death. As a daughter of a research doctor, Kidman said she wants to pay tribute to her father and to “people in science who quietly go about their work and aren’t acknowledged a lot of the time.” Photograph 51 is the name of an x-ray image which Franklin took in 1952 during her research with Maurice Wilkins at King’s College in London. The x-ray image showed the double helix structure of DNA.
Wilkins showed the image to Francis Crick and james Watson. The three male researchers received the Nobel Peace Prize for physiology for discovering the double helix. Franklin was left out.
Kidman is well aware that women are not always recognized in the field of science.
“There is still an enormous amount of inequality for women,” the actress said. “One of the reasons for doing the play was to shine a light on that.”
The play was directed by Michael Grandage who worked with Kidman on the feature film Genius. Grandage knows the actress is the best choice to play Franklin. According to reports, the 48-year-old actress received a standing ovation for her role in Photograph 51.
She admitted that she was scared before but her mother encouraged her to do the play.
Meanwhile, the Photograph 51 team had a photocall at the Noel Cowards Theatre on Monday. Kidman arrived in a classic metallic tweed dress paired with black shoes. The event was also attended by Anna Ziegler and Stephen Campbell Moore.