23 AUGUST 2002
A year after the acclaimed thriller movie The Others sent shivers down audiences’ spines, its famous Hollywood star and shy young Chilean-born director have teamed up once again – and just like last time, they’ve been shooting sequences in a mysterious old mansion.

However, the project that’s brought Nicole Kidman and Alejandro Amenabar back together isn’t a spooky new film, it’s a TV commercial for El Corte Ingles, Spain’s ubiquitous department store.

The location on this occasion is a 1920s Beverly Hills house where films like The Witches Of Eastwick were shot, and while it’s situated thousands of miles away from the northern Spanish mansion where The Others was filmed, the billowing curtains, tiled floors and shadowy light definitely recapture Alejandro’s BAFTA-nominated movie.

It’s the first time that Nicole has agreed to star in a commercial, and what may have persuaded her to do so is the huge respect she has for the promising 30-year-old director.

“Alejandro has a great future ahead,” she has said. “He’s passionate about his work and is completely committed. I am very fond of him.”

The director, who has long been based in Spain, was at first very reluctant to consider a Hollywood star for the lead role in The Others. However, he was quickly won over. “Nicole turned out to be so intelligent, so brilliant, and her criticisms always helped improve the film’s quality,” he said after working with her.