What should have been an exciting moment in her career turned into tragedy for Nicole Kidman, who received the news her beloved mother Janelle passed away shortly before she was set to receive an award for Best Actress at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
“I’m in shock and I have to go to my family, but this award is for her. She shaped me, she guided me and she made me. I am beyond grateful that I get to say her name to all of you through Halina,” Babygirl director Halina Reijin shared on behalf of Nicole. “The collision of life and art is heartbreaking, and my heart is broken.”
Kidman’s mother Janelle was previously hospitalised for heart issues. (Image: Getty)
The mum-of-four has always been open about her struggles being so far away from Janelle, who was hospitalised in 2016 with heart issues.
“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 told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2020.
The pair were very close, with Nicole telling the Hollywood Reporter, “She’s given me the fire to pursue the career I have because I’ve always wanted to please her. But she also carved her own path and wanted her daughters to have the same opportunity to carve their own path.”
“Mum didn’t necessarily get the career that she wanted, but she was determined that her daughters would have opportunities that were equal,” she added in her 2020 interview.
“That’s given me my life. And she gave me my life, she and my dad.”
Nicole previously revealed she tried to make every effort to jet back to Sydney at short notice and often arrived unannounced at family celebrations to see her beloved mum.
“We jump in and out quite a bit,” she said in an interview in July 2023. “Sometimes under the radar, which is always lovely too. The girls love it, too. So we’re very much always back and forth. It’s a huge part of our life, seeing my sister and all my nieces and nephews and Mama, so [blows a kiss] to all of them.”
Friends said it was her strong Mama who refused to clip Nicole’s wings. “Janelle has made it very clear that Nicole is not to hold back on her work because of her health problems,” a family insider previously said.
“Janelle worked just as hard supporting Nicole and her sister throughout the years – she’s not going to let them hold back on account of her.”
Despite being based in the United States, friends suggested that with Janelle’s health issues, Nicole and Keith Urban’s daughters Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret often urged their parents to spend more time Down Under.
“Those girls worship their grandma and talk to her every second day,” an insider shared last year.
“They see her struggling and love being able to help, from getting her a cup of tea to puffing up her pillows. It’s understandable they’d be putting pressure on Nicole and Keith to remain in Sydney. It’s always heartbreaking when they have to leave.”
It’s understood that Nicole has flown back home to Australia to be with family at this time.
