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Forget the white light at the end of the tunnel, the last thing you might see before you die is Nicole Kidman’s face.
The 58-year-old Oscar and Emmy Award winner opened up at the Half a Century of History event on April 18 in Philadelphia about her recent training to become a death doula. “It’s absolutely beautiful,” she told the attention-grabbing gathering in Marian Anderson Hall (where, we should note, there were also appearances by the four living former presidents, along with two former ladies — Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton — plus Tina Fey, Tom Brady, Garth Brooks, Colin Jost, Kate McKinnon and Jason Kelsey).
“You have to be a certain person to be able to do this,” Kidman continued in her second career as an end-of-life mentor. “But I discovered that I really am that person. It’s very important to me.”
the Moulin Rouge! The star and uncompromising AMC Theater host delved into the decision, describing it, rather poignantly, as a reaction to her family’s death two years ago. “I won Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, and I was about to go on stage and found out that my mother had died,” she recalls. “I went straight back to the room in Venice, went to bed and was completely devastated.”
But the most striking thing about Kidman’s unexpected career swerve is that she’s not the first Hollywood creative to take on the death penalty. Tony Award-winning actress Celia Keenan-Bolger underwent training in 2022, Hamnet Director Chloé Zhao spoke publicly about her training earlier this year Daisy Jones and the Six Actress (and Elvis’ granddaughter) Riley Keough has been doing it since 2020.
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Also in the Rampling Reporter:
Why can’t movie stars resist an awards show about particle physics and Louise Linton in her next film?
This story appeared in the May 6 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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