At the Venice Film Festival, Nicole Kidman experienced an unimaginable moment of grief when she received the news of her mother’s death just hours before she was to accept the Best Actress award. In the midst of grief, she leaned on her mother’s ever-present spirit and embraced the powerful reminder to overcome adversity.
Nicole Kidman reflects on a devastating time in her life. In a recent public appearance, the actress recalled the moment she learned of her mother’s death. Kidman shared that she learned of the tragic news when she was scheduled to take the stage at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, where she won the evening’s Best Actress award for her role in Babygirl.
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Nicole Kidman looks back on the devastating moment
Speaking at HISTORYTalks in Philadelphia, the actress recalled how she was experiencing “tremendous euphoria” at the time, after winning the award. Nicole (58 years old) said about her mother, Janelle Anne Kidman: “I was about to go on stage, and I found out that my mother had died, so I went straight back to the room in Venice, and I went to bed and I was completely devastated and thought: I don’t know how I’m going to move forward or function now.” “So the idea of being there at that particular moment was like a parole,” said Kidman, who described her mother as “a huge part of my existence.”
Nicole Kidman tried to leave the festival immediately
Nicole went on to recount her attempt to leave Venice in the middle of the night to be with her grieving family. “I remember getting on a boat in the canal, literally at night, trying to find my way to the airport, and then turning around and saying, ‘I can’t even do this,'” she told the audience. “Then I went back to bed.
And I was alone. My husband wasn’t there, and my children weren’t there. I was there to win an award, which should have been a nice thing.
That there is a contradiction in life.
Nicole Kidman recalls her mother’s sacrifices
Nicole said the traumatic experience reminded her that she is “resilient” and can “survive almost anything.” This reflects a valuable lesson she said she learned from her late mother and has passed on to her children: “Never let anyone break your spirit.” “She came from an era where she didn’t get the career advice she liked,” Nicole explained. “She raised us, supported my father, helped him get his doctorate. She gave to her family and never had the career she would have loved to have. She was exceptionally smart.”
Babygirl director Halina Reijn received the award on behalf of Nicole Kidman
At the film festival on September 7, 2024, Babygirl director Halina Rein read a written statement on Nicole’s behalf during the actress’s Best Actress acceptance speech. Nicole wrote that she flew to Venice to discover “shortly after that my beautiful and brave mother, Janelle Ann Kidman, had just died.”
