Naomi Watts’ ‘Clever’ Divorce Advice for Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman has been struggling since her marriage to country music singer Keith Urban fell apart over the summer resulting in her filing for divorce on Monday.

The 58-year-old Oscar-winning star has leaned on her best friend since her teen years, fellow Australian actress, 57-year-old Naomi Watts.

‘Nic has been calling Naomi a ton to talk out how she needs to cope with the situation,’ a source told Daily Mail.

‘There has been a lot of advice flowing and Nic listens because Naomi has been through it herself; she had a very public split from Heath Ledger then Liev Schreiber so she knows how challenging heartbreak in the spotlight can be,’ added the insider.

‘Naomi’s clever advice has been to be as honest as can be with the public and just get it out there and over with so fans can process and move on.’

The blonde has helped Kidman through heartbreak hell before; in 2001 she held the beauty’s hand when she divorced Tom Cruise.

Watts has become a role model for Kidman as the King Kong actress is now thriving in a loving marriage to Billy Crudup. 

‘One day Nic would like that; an adoring relationship with so much love like Naomi and Billy have,’ added the pal.

Kidman and Watts met as teenagers around age 15 at an audition for an ’80s swimsuit commercial in Sydney, Australia. 

They bonded during the waiting period for the audition and remained friends, with their friendship solidifying further when they worked together on the 1991 film Flirting. 

They have a deep connection, with Watts even referring to Kidman as ‘like the sister I never had.’

Kidman famously checked in with Watts before taking a role that put her in a relationship with Watts’ ex Schreiber on the 2024 Netflix series The Perfect Couple.

The redheaded star has also been leaning on her 55-year-old sister Antonia Kidman. 

Kidman filed for divorce from Urban earlier this week.

The iconic actress has filed for a divorce shortly after news broke that the celebrity couple – who have daughters Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 14, together – had separated after 19 years of marriage, Daily Mail confirmed on Tuesday.

A source previously insisted to People that Nicole ‘didn’t want this’ and that the Hollywood star – who was married to Tom Cruise between 1990 and 2001 – was still ‘fighting to save the marriage’.

The insider added at the time: ‘Nicole’s sister [Antonia] has been a rock and the entire Kidman family has come together to support one another.’

Nicole filed a divorce after the celebrity duo spent the summer in different parts of the world, with the actress filming Practical Magic 2 in London, while Keith was on his High and Alive World Tour.

Meanwhile, Nicole previously admitted that she missed her family while filming Expats in Hong Kong.

The acclaimed actress shot the TV mini-series in Asia amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and Nicole subsequently revealed that she struggled to deal with the restrictions and the absence of her family.

Nicole – who has been married to Keith since 2006 – told Extra: ‘I was missing my kids and my husband.

‘We loved Hong Kong, we were able to shoot really in the city, everything in there is authentic.

‘I would climb seven flights of stairs to shoot in the little apartment. We would just kind of hustle, it felt like we were doing a small film even though it was such an enormous undertaking and we got to see Hong Kong, which was gorgeous.’

Prior to that, Nicole admitted that her performance was affected by the COVID restrictions in Hong Kong and the absence of her husband and kids.

She told the Guardian newspaper: ‘I was alone in Hong Kong without my family, which was a terrible mistake. I couldn’t just get on a plane and get to them. And they couldn’t get to me. That affected the performance, to the degree that it also affected my psyche.’