Just hours before she was due to step on stage to accept the award for Best Actress for her role in Babygirl at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, Nicole Kidman received the devastating news that her mother had passed away.
Janelle Kidman died in September last year at age 84, and Nicole quickly headed back to Sydney to spend time with her family, making a statement to say: ‘My heart is broken’.
Months after Janelle’s death, the actress revealed that in their final conversation her mother had expressed concerns about her hectic schedule, saying: ‘You just need to take care of yourself, Nicky.’
Those words seemed particulary prescient in the wake of the news that Nicole and her husband Keith Urban are divorcing after 18 years of marriage.
He was reportedly unhappy about her string of racy film roles, while rumours have emerged that he’s already moved on with a younger girlfriend.
Whatever the truth of the matter there can be no doubt that the couple have been spending huge amounts of time apart with Nicole refusing to take a step back in the immediate aftermath of her mother’s death.
Nicole Kidman’s mother Janelle died in September last year at age 84 and since then the actress has thrown herself into back to back work and a jam-packed schedule
Nicole and Keith Urban announced the end of their 19-year marriage earlier this week after sources told The Daily Mail that the pair never saw each other (pictured in May 2025)
Last October, she sparked fears she was going to suffer from ‘burnout’ after filming four major Hollywood projects and signing up to begin working on a six-part crime series Scarpetta.
It came after a bumper year of filming in which she barely took a breath between projects.
She starred alongside Zac Efron in Netflix’s age gap rom com A Family Affair which was quickly followed by her role in Babygirl which saw her star as a married company boss who falls for her young intern, who is played by Harris Dickinson, 29.
Challenging herself to a thriller she starred in Netflix’s A Perfect Couple before returning to her role as Kaitlyn Meade in series two of Special Ops: Lioness.
The star then went on to film the lead role in Scarpetta, a new Amazon series based on Patricia Cornwell’s mystery books and co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Ariana DeBose.
Additionally, she did voice acting in the animated musical/fantasy film Spellbound, which was released on Netflix.
However, her busy schedule sparked concern she could suffer a ‘burnout’ from overloading herself with the releases and their full-on press tours.
Last October, she sparked fears she was going to suffer from ‘burnout’ after filming four major Hollywood projects (pictured in Babygirl, alongside Harris Dickinson)
Nicole also starred in Netflix’s thriller series A Perfect Couple alongside the likes of Liev Schreiber (both pictured) – which was released last month
She starred alongside Zac Efron in Netflix’s age gap rom com A Family Affair amid her jam-packed schedule
A source claimed that people were particularly concerned for Nicole as she dealt with her grief following the death of Janelle.
A source told Woman’s Day magazine: ‘Nicole is still looking as amazing as always but she’s been through so much, and she seems to be dealing with her grief by throwing herself into work.
‘There are times when she sleeps on a plane more than a bed. Everyone’s worried about her.’
The source claimed Nicole will have to delve into some ‘dark places’ to play the titular role in intense crime drama Scarpetta, adding to worries for the star.
‘Nicole insists she is perfectly fine but her schedule is non-stop. There’s a lot of expectation to pull herself off Scarpetta,’ they continued.
‘It’s a grizzly crime drama and she’ll be going to some dark places.’
Nicole herself has admitted she struggles to take time out and look after herself.
She told Variety: ‘It’s very hard for me to go, “Okay, I’m just going to take care of myself,” because I’m so much about taking care of other people.
‘I’m thinking, “I can create more work for people. I can create jobs for people.” And also, I love it. I have the passion.
‘I’ve just got to take care of my body. I wish I had superpowers because I would love to be everywhere.’
Last March, while promoting her latest film, called Holland, at the SXSW Film & TV Festival, she shared she was ready to take a step back from work.
‘I was much more out there last year; this year I have Holland, I have Nine Perfect Strangers, and then I’m off for the rest of year. So, oh well!’ she exclaimed to The Hollywood Reporter.
At the Golden Globes in January, host Nikki Glaser teased, ‘Thank you, Nicole, for working so hard!
Taking a swipe at her musician husband, in a joke that hasn’t aged well in light of recent events, she joked: ‘And thank you, Keith Urban, for playing guitar around the house so much that she wants to leave and make 18 movies a year. Keep strumming, you kooky Koala.’
However some fans have criticised Nicole for taking on too many roles as they took to social media asking: ‘Can you please give other actresses a chance and not be in every single movie out there??’
‘I think you need to stop acting like you’re like 25 years old. It’s not a good look, just saying,’ another said.
‘She seems to be in everything these days, and it’s annoying. And I think it has the opposite effect, people won’t watch it,’ a different critic added.
While Nicole confessed she struggles to prioritise herself, it seems her mother too worried about her all-go lifestyle.
The Australian actress revealed her mums final words to her were ‘take care of yourself’.
The Australian actress revealed her mums final words to her were ‘take care of yourself’ as she admitted she struggles to stop and put herself first
She previously told Variety: ‘It’s very hard for me to go, “Okay, I’m just going to take care of myself,” because I’m so much about taking care of other people’ (pictured last Friday)
Nicole previously credited her beloved mother for teaching her what it takes to build a long-lasting and successful relationship (Pictured with her parents Janelle and Anthony in 2003)
‘The final words my mama said to me, I was gonna get on a plane, and she said “Maybe wait a minute, because you just need to take care of yourself, Nicky,”‘ Nicole said.
The Hollywood actress said she has since taken her mother’s advice to heart.
‘I’m doing that more, and I say that to other people in the world. Particularly women. I think we tend not to care of ourselves. We take care of everybody else but the last person is here,’ she said.
In light of the news of the couple split, a source told the Daily Mail: ‘Keith never sees Nicole, either she is filming or he is on tour. There was a lot of love between the two and they might not divorce, but there is a world that they both live where neither of them are in it.
‘Keith and Nicole have been together for decades and there is a world which they can reconcile, but the way their pairing is now, it is not a couple.’
The country star has been away for much of the year on his High and Alive World Tour.
Nicole and their children Sunday, 17, and Faith, 15, meanwhile, have remained in Nashville, where the couple own a $4million compound.
TMZ reported Monday that ‘Keith has acquired his own residence in Nashville and has moved out of their family home’.
Over the summer, the actress and their kids stayed in England while she filmed the sequel to her 1998 movie Practical Magic. She was paying a reported £65,000 ($87,000) each month to rent a luxurious Hampstead mansion once owned by pop star Boy George.
While the London move was for work, it certainly raised eyebrows back in Nicole’s native Australia.
‘[Kidman and Urban] do make an effort to speak every day when they’re apart, but it is shocking how much time they’ve spent apart since Nicole’s mother died last September,’ an insider told local magazine Woman’s Day earlier this month. ‘It’s like they both went their separate ways.’
Nicole previously credited her beloved mother for teaching her what it takes to build a long-lasting and successful relationship.
In a May essay for The Sydney Morning Herald she wrote: ‘In my father [Antony, who died in 2014], I saw a man who loved my mother, which was the most beautiful thing to grow up watching.
‘He was so loving to her and devoted to her… They married very young and made it to 50 years… a feat!
‘I’m very fortunate to have created this coming-up-to-20 year marriage. That’s very much because of my parents.’
Unfortunately, despite Nicole’s best efforts and the wise lessons she carried from her mother, she and her husband have parted ways after 19 years together.
Sources have also suggested it was a lack of intimacy — as well as their busy schedules — that ultimately led to the split.
‘The intimacy isn’t there, they are just going through the motions [of being married]. If this separation gets them back together, that would be amazing, but Keith had to call her out that he isn’t happy,’ the source continued.
‘She was blindsided, but we shall see how things go during the holiday season and his upcoming birthday [next month]. They have some work to do.’
