Nicole Kidman announced that her beloved mother Janelle Kidman died just hours before she was due to accept the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.
Kidman, 57, said in a statement that she had to leave the film festival to be with her family and was unable to accept the top award in Venice for her role in the film. Babygirl.
The film’s director, Halina Reijn, read the statement after Kidman was announced as the winner.
“Today I arrived in Venice and shortly after learned that my wonderful, brave mother Janelle Ann Kidman has just died,” the statement said. “I am in shock and need to be with my family, but this award is for her, she shaped me, she guided me and she made me.”
“I am eternally grateful that Halina allows me to tell you all her name. The collision of life and art is heartbreaking and my heart is broken.”
Kidman has spoken about her mother’s failing health in recent years, revealing in 2022 that she was in Australia “mainly to look after my mother and surround her with her grandchildren.”
“I’m in a place where I get a chance to see the world. Because we’re so close, my mom gives me a chance to see the world through the eyes of an 81-year-old woman,” she said. “That’s so helpful right now because she’s so aware. She has all the capabilities of her brain at her disposal, so she hasn’t lost anything. She hasn’t lost any memories, which is fascinating, and she’s extremely intelligent.”
(LR) Janelle Kidman, Nicole Kidman and her father Antony Kidman at the Australian premiere of the film “Cold Mountain” in 2003.
Peter Carrette Archive
Kidman comes from a close-knit family and has spoken of her grief when her father, Dr Antony Kidman, died unexpectedly in 2014 while visiting Kidman’s sister Antonia and her six children in Singapore.
In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres that same year, she spoke about the grief of losing a parent.
“I realized that we don’t talk about it enough in our society,” she said. “Everyone loses their parents and it’s horrible. I’m sorry to break it all down, but at the same time I’m just trying to maneuver through something right now. And I’m amazed when people reach out, because sometimes it’s an uncomfortable thing. But when people say, ‘I’m so sorry for your loss – the power of that, and even a note or anything, I’ve gotten so much love from people.'”
