Nicole Kidman said “it is a privilege to make films” after being honoured with an American Film Institute Life Achievement Award.
Kidman, 56, is the first Australian actor to be given the highest honour bestowed by the organisation.
The Moulin Rouge actress was presented with the prestigious award by Meryl Streep in Hollywood.
Other stars in attendance included her husband, singer Keith Urban, and Big Little Lies co-star Reese Witherspoon.
Accepting the award in a floor-length shimmering gold Balenciaga gown, Kidman thanked all the directors she has worked with.
“It is a privilege to make films. And glorious to have made films and television with these storytellers who allowed me to run wild and be free and play all of these unconventional women,” she said.
“Thank you for making me better at my craft and giving me a place, however temporary, in this world.”
During the ceremony, Kidman teared up as her husband said she showed him “what love in action really looks like” when his substance abuse problems emerged soon after they married in 2006.
“Four months into our marriage, I’m in rehab for three months,” Urban said addressing Kidman and their two teenage daughters, who joined her on the red carpet for the first time.
“Nic pushed through every negative voice, I’m sure even some of her own, and she chose love. And here we are 18 years later.”
Australian actors Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Cate Blanchett also gave video tributes to the first actor from their country to win the award.
Previous winners of the award, which the AFI calls the “highest honour in American cinema”, include Streep, Julie Andrews, Denzel Washington, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.
Kidman made her Hollywood breakthrough alongside Tom Cruise in 1990’s Days Of Thunder – marrying him in the same year.
She divorced him in 2001, but her stardom only grew after this.
She received her first Oscar nomination for Moulin Rouge in 2001, before going on to win the best actress Oscar for The Hours in 2003.
Kidman said the night was the first time she allowed their teenage daughters to join her on a red carpet. She also has two children with her first husband, Tom Cruise.
Kidman also was nominated for Academy Awards for “Moulin Rouge,” “Rabbit Hole,” “Lion,” and “Being the Ricardos,” whose director, Aaron Sorkin, also sang her praises at the ceremony.
Others honoring her included Zac Efron, Miles Teller, Zoe Saldana and Mike Myers, who came on stage in disguise in one of the eerie orgy masks from “Eyes Wide Shut.”
Kidman began her career as a teen in Australia in films including “Bush Christmas” and “BMX Bandits.” Naomi Watts, a friend from those days, described meeting Kidman when both had to sit in a waiting room in bathing suits for two hours at an audition. Aussies Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman and Cate Blanchett all gave video tributes to the first from their country to win the award.
Kidman said in a video played at the ceremony that her appearance in the 1989 thriller “Dead Calm” brought her to the attention of, among others, Cruise, the only time his name was spoken Saturday night.
She had her breakthrough Hollywood role alongside him in 1990’s “Days of Thunder” — they would marry the same year — and also starred together in 1992’s “Far and Away” and in 1999 in Kubrick’s final film, “Eyes Wide Shut.”
She divorced Cruise in 2001, but her stardom only grew. Some of her biggest roles, and her Oscar, were still to come.
The role most often cited as a favorite during the awards show Saturday night was her musical turn in Luhrmann’s 2001 “Moulin Rouge.”
By BBC News
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