My Kids Keep Me Young
AT 51, THE A-LIST ACTRESS SAYS HER REAL-LIFE ROLE AS A MOTHER MEANS MORE TO HER THAN ANY AWARD
Nicole Kidman has faced her fair share of critics throughout her 35-year career, but she’s realizing some of her toughest — daughters Sunday, 9, and Faith, 7 — live right under her roof. “My little one will say, ‘Please don’t wear your workout stuff to school this morning. Please blow-dry your hair. Please wear some makeup,’” Nicole reports of their growing opinions about how she should look. “I mean, that’s hard truth right there!”
The 51-year-old actress, though, is at peace with any critiques coming from her pint-size fashion police because “children keep you young,” she insists. “There’s something true about their life force. They keep you engaged and they bring joy.” Since she and husband Keith Urban, 50, were both in their 40s when they welcomed their first daughter, staying “healthy and vibrant” for Sunday and Faith is a top priority. “I want to be able to take care of them,” Nicole explains. “That’s a big part of it when you have children when you’re older.”
The Big Little Lies star always knew she was destined for motherhood, although she recently opened up about the pain she and first husband Tom Cruise endured after she had both an ectopic pregnancy and a miscarriage. The couple later adopted Isabella, now 25, and Connor, 23. “Whether you’re an adoptive mother, a foster mother, or a biological mother,” Nicole insists of finally realizing her dream, “it’s the emotion of attaching to a child and helping guide them [that’s important].”
HOME SWEET HOME
Now her daughters with Keith help ground her as she deals with the stresses of her career. “There’s no better way of getting over a tough day than walking through the door and being brought back to earth by the demands of your family,” she says. “While I’m thinking, ‘God, I feel like I can’t even go on,’ I have two little girls standing there, asking, ‘What’s for breakfast?’ That is a gift for me.”
Nicole’s gift to her daughters in return? “She’s an extraordinary mum,” Keith raves. “Those girls are very, very lucky. Her attention to honoring their feelings and listening to them right from day one is really beautiful to see,” he adds.
Now that the girls are getting older and both are in school, Nicole has found she has a little more time to focus on her work. Still, if she is called away on location for any length of time, she struggles. “I miss them so much,” she admits. “I get 3 a.m. panics because I’m so attached!”
She’s less attached these days to industry awards, like the recent Emmy and Golden Globe statues she won for her work on Big Little Lies. “I told my oldest, ‘You can put this on your shelf,’ but she said, ‘I don’t want that,’” Nicole reports with a laugh, genuinely tickled by Sunday’s dose of brutal honesty. “You don’t want some trophy your mum’s won sitting up there. I totally get it!”
— Ron Kelly