Nicole Kidman’s triumphant appearance at the Venice Film Festival ended in tragedy. On the very day the actress arrived for the closing ceremony, her mother, 84-year-old Janelle Anne Kidman, passed away. As a result, the Moulin Rouge star urgently flew home to Australia, and before leaving, she left a message that was supposed to be her acceptance speech: Nicole received the prize for best actress in the film Baby.
“I arrived in Venice today to find out that my beautiful, brave mother, Janelle Anne Kidman, has passed away. I am in shock and need to go to be with my family, but this award is for her. She shaped me, she guided me, and she created me. I am so grateful to be able to say her name for all of you. The collision of life and art is heartbreaking and my heart is broken,” Baby director Halina Raine read a statement from the actress.
Janelle Anne Kidman worked as a nursing instructor, was a member of the Australian women’s rights movement, and edited books by her husband, clinical psychologist Anthony Kidman, before his death in 2014. “My mother may not have had the career she wanted, but she was determined that her daughters would have the same opportunities as men. She gave me my life, and she gave me my father,” Nicole told The Hollywood Reporter. The actress has always been known for her close relationship with her mother and sister Antonia. In 2022, Kidman even returned from America to her native Australia to care for her mother during the COVID-19 pandemic.
