"And these muses" — she asks, having been told there are millions of them — "they fall in love with the man?"

"Exactly," he replies, "they fall in love with him." Beat. "I'd rather be the man," she responds. "What?" he asks, stunned. "I'd rather be the man."

When quizzed about this exchange at the "Nine" press conference, Kidman said, "Well, most of the time the roles are better for men here, but I also think, the way he's describing it, obviously that role is going to more riveting than all the others. And I think that says something about the character of Claudia. Beyond being his actress, she knows him."

Kidman has an ironic post-script to this gender-bending: "My next film role is that of a man — obviously, a man who has gone through a sex change." It seems she'll play Danish artist Einar Wegener in "The Danish Girl," a fact-based drama co-starring Gwyneth Paltrow.

"You don't think you’re taking that role away from an actor?" cracked one of the fourth estate. She returned the serve: "I'll answer that at the next press conference."

— Harry Haun