Nicole Kidman shared her heartbreak on Saturday as she revealed that her beloved mother had sadly passed away at the age of 83.
The 57-year-old Australian actress was forced to leave the Venice Film Festival to return to her native Sydney to be with her family after the devastating news.
Her mother Janelle tragically died just hours before Nicole was awarded Best Actress for her role in Babygirl on the final day of the Venice Film Festival, in a major achievement.
“I arrived in Venice today and shortly after I learned that my beautiful and brave mother, Janelle Ann Kidman, had just passed away,” Nicole revealed in a statement read by director Halina Reijn after her win.
‘I am in shock and I have to turn to my family, but this award is for her, she shaped me, she guided me and she made me.
“I am beyond grateful to be able to say her name to all of you through Halina. The collision between life and art is heartbreaking and my heart is shattered. We love you all.”
Nicole has long had an incredibly close relationship with her beloved mother Janelle and has often spoken about her support and influence on her career over the years.
Nicole was born in Honolulu and raised in Sydney by her loving mother Janelle and psychologist father Antony, who passed away in September 2014.
Nicole Kidman shared her grief on Saturday as she revealed that her beloved mother had sadly passed away at the age of 83.
Nicole has long had an incredibly close relationship with her beloved mother Janelle and has often spoken about her support and influence on her career over the years.
After spending time in the United States, the Moulin Rouge star and her younger sister Antonia, 54, spent much of their childhood in Sydney.
Nicole pursued her passion for acting as a teenager and received support from her parents as she rose to worldwide fame.
The two remained closely involved with each other’s careers over the years, with Nicole recently admitting that she still turned to her mother for advice.
In November, the Big Little Lies star revealed how she often asked her mother, Janelle, for advice on her outfits, despite working with many professional stylists.
As a sign of their close bond, Nicole told People: “My mom is still… she’s very involved in what I wear.”
Nicole is known for her bold fashion choices, but she shared how it was her mother and grandmother who first fostered her love of clothing.
“I love fashion. I’ve always loved fashion,” she said enthusiastically during her speech at the launch of the Planet Omega pop-up store in New York.
“I grew up as a girl with a grandmother who loved fashion and knew how to sew, and my mother did too. They loved pretty clothes, they knew how to make pretty clothes,” she continued.
“I watched them sew, embroider, knit and crochet. And I think when you grow up watching people in your home do that, you love it.”
Nicole never hesitated to express her affection for Janelle and shared a touching tribute on her mother’s 82nd birthday last year.
Nicole was born in Honolulu and raised in Sydney by her loving mother Janelle and psychologist father Antony (pictured as a baby with her mother in Hawaii).
The Big Little Lies star recently revealed that she often asked her mother Janelle for advice on her outfits, despite working with a slew of stylists (pictured in 2018).
On Instagram, she posted a gallery of photos of herself and her family celebrating with Janelle at a party and wrote some sweet words in a caption.
“Happy birthday, Mom. We all love you so much,” Nicole wrote.
She also took the time to send her mother some birthday wishes while on the Oscars red carpet in Los Angeles with husband Keith Urban.
“Today is my mom’s birthday. Happy birthday, mom. We love you so much,” Nicole told the camera.
“We threw her a party when we got back to Sydney. She’s the heart of our family, so we love you, Mum.”
On Australian Mother’s Day 2022, Nicole also shared sweet throwback photos of Janelle holding her as a baby in Hawaii, where she was born.
“Reminiscing…wonderful memories with my mom in Hawaii,” Nicole wrote in a reflective caption.
‘Happy Mother’s Day, Mom, and to all the mothers in the world… Happy Mother’s Day.’
Earlier that year, Nicole, who splits her time between Australia and the United States, also spent an extended period in her home country to be with Janelle.
At the time, Nicole recounted how she was taking time off to care for her mother, who was going through a period of illness amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We’re here primarily to take care of my mom and have her surrounded by her grandchildren,” she told the Fresh Air podcast.
Nicole said they managed to visit the Art Gallery of New South Wales after hours to see the Matisse exhibition, describing it as a “soothing balm”.
Nicole has never been shy about expressing her affection for Janelle, sharing a touching tribute on her mother’s 82nd birthday last year alongside some Polaroid snaps from their family party.
Nicole, who splits her time between Australia and the United States, also spent an extended period in her home country to be with Janelle while she went through a period of illness.
She continued: “Luckily, yesterday, even though Omicron is wreaking havoc in this country, we were able to take her to the gallery after hours and show her the Matisse exhibition, which, coming from a mother who raised me in the art world, was a comforting balm. Matisse was a comforting balm last night.”
Nicole also expressed her excitement, saying she felt privileged to be able to see the world through her mother’s eyes, describing it as “very beneficial.”
“I’m in the place where I’m being given the opportunity to see the world, because of how close we are, my mother is giving me the opportunity to see the world through the eyes of an 81-year-old woman,” she explained.
“That’s very beneficial now, because she’s very conscious. She has all the faculties of the brain available, so she hasn’t lost anything. She hasn’t lost any memory, which is fascinating, and she’s extremely bright.
“She’s giving me access, because she’s also very direct and very honest, and so I’m having access to the world through her eyes, my mother’s eyes, so a part of me almost at 80.”
“It’s their perspective, obviously. There are a lot of different perspectives from 80-year-olds, but it’s their perspective and their particular path, but I’m assimilating it and learning,” he added.
In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald In May 2020, Nicole also opened up about missing her mother while living abroad in the United States.
“I would love to be able to have a cup of tea with Mum and sit on the balcony and talk about life, and have her tell me what I should be doing,” she said at the time.
Nicole had an equally close relationship with her father Antony and was devastated when he died of a heart attack in September 2014 at the age of 75.
The Oscar-winning actress previously revealed that her father’s “sudden” death, as well as a series of other losses, had affected her deeply.
“I’ve been given a sudden death. I haven’t been caring for anyone through a slow death, I’ve just been taken away,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2020.
“It’s happened to me several times, I’m almost afraid to say it because I’m afraid it will happen again. I’m still very afraid of it.”
Nicole once said she felt privileged to be able to see the world through her mother’s eyes, describing it as “very beneficial” (they are both pictured here with Nicole’s niece, Lucia Hawley).
Nicole had an equally close relationship with her father Antony and was devastated when he died of a heart attack in September 2014 at the age of 75 (pictured in 2005).
Following the news of her mother’s death, Nicole has travelled back to Australia to be with her family, including her younger sister Antonia, 54 (both pictured in April).
That same year, Nicole also shared a tribute to her father on the anniversary of his death, recounting how she and her sister Nicole could always turn to him for advice.
“My sister and I were just talking recently about how lucky we were, because I turned to my dad for advice all the time, and my mom did too,” she said.
Nicole also revealed that she was reminded of her father while starring alongside Donald Sutherland in the 2020 thriller series The Undoing.
“Donald is the same height as my dad and reminds me of him,” she said. “So I would go up to him and hug him all the time.”
