Nicole Kidman details experience of mother’s death first time ever

Nicole Kidman is reflecting on the devastating moment when she learned of her mother's death, just moments before she was set to take the stage at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.

During a conversation with Hoda Kotb at HISTORYTalks in Philadelphia on Saturday, the actress recalled how she was experiencing an "enormous high" at the time, having won the festival's Best Actress award for her role in Babygirl.

"I was about to go onstage and I found out my mother had died and I went right back to the room in Venice, got into bed and was completely devastated and thought, 'I do not know how I'm gonna move forward or function now, '” the 58-year-old said.

As she remembered her mom Janelle Ann Kidman, "She was so much a part of my existence. So, the idea of being there at that particular moment was parole."

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 into a boat in the canal, literally at night, trying to find my way to the airport, and then turning around going, ‘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, my children weren’t there. I was there to win an award, which should’ve been a beautiful thing. That there is the contrast of life,” the Paddington star explained.

Nicole said the painful experience reminded her that she is "resilient" and can "survive pretty much anything."

"Don't ever let anyone break your spirit,” she said.

“She came from an era where she wasn’t given the career advice she would’ve loved," Nicole mentioned, adding, "She raised us, supported my father, helped him get his PhD. She basically gave to her family and didn’t have the career that she would’ve loved to have had. She was exceptionally smart."

At the film festival on September 7, 2024, Babygirl director Halina Reijn read a written statement on Nicole's behalf during what would have been the actress' Best Actress acceptance speech. Nicole wrote that she had flown in to Venice, only to find out "shortly after that my beautiful, brave mother, Janelle Ann Kidman, has just passed."

"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," Reijn continued, reading Nicole's statement. "The collision of life and art is heartbreaking, and my heart is broken."