Inside Nicole Kidman’s IRL Quiet Luxury Penthouse in ‘Babygirl’
When high-powered CEO Romy, played by Nicole Kidman in A24’s Babygirl, isn't staring with frustrated intent at the wall of a cheap hotel or pacing about her office in cream separates, she can be found at home with her husband (played by Antonio Banderas), and their two children. Her exquisitely appointed penthouse isn't a soundstage, but a residence at 200 Amsterdam, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, with interior design by the ELLE DECOR A-List firm of Studio Mellone.
While founder Andre Mellone didn't consult on the film, he tells Elle Decor that he has always nursed a passion for production design. His projects draw inspiration from celluloid sources as varied as Hitchcock, Sean Connery-era James Bond films, and even historical epics like Ben-Hur, Cleopatra, and Lawrence of Arabia.
While those influences weren’t in the brief for this project, Mellone worked with SJP Properties to create a highly-stylized space that would be perfect for art patrons (the building sits in close proximity to Lincoln Center) and that was oriented around the apartment's jaw-dropping views onto the city below.
Mellone delivered with a minimalist interior that still manages to be warm—the spatial manifestation of Romy’s work ensembles, and a fitting metaphor for the way in which she begins to feel trapped in a cashmere-lined cage of her own making.
Production designer Stephen Carter and set decorator Sarah McMillan styled the space with different artwork and accessories mixed in with Mellone’s designs, including a custom sofa and vintage floating shelving in the walnut-wainscoted living room, evolving the look and feel of the space with a light but conscientious touch. “I felt the apartment come alive via Romy. It was the perfect place for a successful, stylish CEO like her,” says Mellone. “The film brought the space to life.”
So, will Mellone pull a reverse Luca Guadagnino and make the leap from interiors to film? It’s not out of the question. “Interiors are more about creating a feeling, and production design is the ultimate stylistic expression of that feeling. It is only fantasy. Anything can be accomplished.”
Unless, of course, you’re Nicole Kidman’s Romy. But don’t let us spoil the movie for you.
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