Angelina Jolie ‘Got Out-Played’ By Nicole Kidman After Aussie Star Took Over ‘Scarpetta’ Role (Exclusive)

Nicole Kidman is getting some major hype for her new TV crime thriller, Scarpetta — a role that originally belonged to “longtime rival” Angelina Jolie, reveals National Enquirer‘s source.

Back in 2009, Variety reported that Jolie, 50, was set to play Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the medical examiner protagonist in Patricia Cornwell’s 27-book series. However, plans for the film franchise ultimately flatlined before being revived in 2024 as a TV series set to premiere March 11 on Prime Video with Kidman, 58, at the helm.

“For all of Angie’s credentials and philanthropy, Nicole is the better Hollywood businesswoman and she has created a giant television operation over the last ten years,” the source says of the actress, who’s starred in and executive produced several critically-acclaimed TV shows, including The Undoing and Big Little Lies, for which she won an Emmy award in 2020.

While Jolie’s acting resume is nothing to scoff at, “Nicole brings an entire vision to a project and works with a team of executives who really understand her taste and her capabilities,” the source explains. “Scarpetta could become a new peak for Nicole. The woman does not stop!”

Neither will her feud with Jolie, it seems.

“The dark dynamic between [Angie] and Nicole goes back a lot of years,” says National Enquirer’s source. “They both came on the scene around the same time, but Angelina was from a Hollywood family and Nicole was an Australian who made her own luck.”

Their rivalry began when Kidman was forced to drop out of Mr. and Mrs. Smith due to scheduling conflicts with The Stepford Wives, leading to Jolie being cast opposite Brad Pitt in the 2005 action-comedy, the source notes.

“Cut to 2025 and a lot of folks in Hollywood would say that Angie deserved to lose Scarpetta to Nicole,” dishes the source. “Angie got out-played on this project because Nicole understands the current TV climate better.”