It’s not what it sounds like, obviously. As you probably know, Hugh Jackman has dealt with several bouts of skin cancer, and while he’s doing really well, he’s also vocal about how people need to be super vigilant about taking care of their skin, use sunscreen, stay off tanning beds, etc. And he thinks there’s one celebrity (and fellow Australian) who’s an inspiration in this area: Nicole Kidman. You see, Nicole is ghostly pale, much like myself, and doesn’t give a rat’s ass about having that ~summer glow~. And good for her!
“People like Nicole Kidman have done a great job,” Jackman, 46, tells PEOPLE of his longtime friend and former Australia costar. “Nicole told me when she was a kid she used to be made fun of all the time in Australia because she used to stay in the shade and she had whiter skin. And no one is making fun of her now.”
“I’m really heartened to see in general the idea that to be sexy and beautiful you have to be tan is gone,” he says. “Nicole has the most beautiful skin.”
I wouldn’t necessarily say that no one’s making fun of her – assholes will always and forever exist, especially on the internet – but I get his drift. And it is nice to see that Nicole has refused to bow down to the Hollywood pressure of being tanned to the extreme. Like her, I burn to a crisp if I’m in the sun too long (though I’m not QUITE as Casper-like as she is) and I’ve never felt the need to be any different. I like to call it “Elizabethan beauty”… and hey, saving myself the skin cancer will be worth it. (And yes, I know that using sunscreen doesn’t preclude you from getting skin cancer, nor does sunbathing mean you’ll definitely get it, so relax.)