Nicole Kidman, one of Hollywood’s most celebrated and scrutinized stars, is opening up about her life’s newest chapter—one marked by heartbreak, self-reinvention, and the relentless glare of public attention. In a series of revealing interviews with Vogue and British Vogue, the 59-year-old Oscar winner has spoken candidly about her recent divorce from country music star Keith Urban, her past with Tom Cruise, and the lessons she’s learned about vulnerability, resilience, and hope.
The past year has been a whirlwind for Kidman. After nearly two decades of marriage, she filed for divorce from Urban in September 2025, citing marital difficulties and irreconcilable differences. The split, finalized in January 2026 in Nashville, was conducted quietly—out of court—with both parties waiving their right to appear at the hearing and declining spousal support. According to Fox News, Kidman was named the primary residential parent of their two daughters, Sunday Rose, now 18, and Faith Margaret, 15. The former couple agreed to make major decisions involving the girls jointly, underscoring a commitment to co-parenting even as their romantic partnership ended.
For Kidman, the divorce marked not just the end of a marriage, but the beginning of an uncertain, sometimes frightening journey. “But at the same time I’m like, ‘OK, I didn’t expect this. I had a different view of what my life was going to be, but this is what it is now,’” Kidman told British Vogue. “You make all these plans and you have all these ideas of what it’s all going to be like and then it’s… not. You have to adjust. You adapt. The future, it’s completely unknown to me right now.”
That sense of unpredictability, she admits, has been both daunting and liberating. “There was a point where I was very fearful and deeply vulnerable, which is exposing. And then at the same time [I’m] going, ‘Well, I can either really not confront it and just curl up, or I can just go forward with an enormous amount of hope.’”
Kidman’s approach to this crossroads is rooted in what she describes as a “feelings first” philosophy. “I’ve approached my whole life like that,” she explained to Fox News. “That’s just who I am. I don’t overthink things and I’m probably not that analytical. I’m far more feeling-centred and I lead with my heart. I just go, ‘OK, what do I feel here? I’ll give it a go.’ It throws people, because I think they think I’ll be far more measured and I’m not.”
Her willingness to embrace uncertainty isn’t new. Kidman reflected on her first marriage to Tom Cruise, which began when she was just 22 or 23 and lasted from 1990 to 2001. “We just fell madly in love and it was that simple,” she recalled in Vogue. “I remember people saying to me, ‘OK, well this is really going to affect your career’. I’m like, ‘I don’t care. I’m in love. I want to be married.’ And then I was his wife and they were like, ‘See, we told you.’ I’m like, ‘So what? I wasn’t meant to marry the man I love? Of course I’ll throw my career away. I don’t care.’”
Despite the warnings about marrying a superstar and the subsequent media scrutiny, Kidman insists that her love for Cruise felt entirely natural at the time. “Suddenly, I was 22, 23 years old and I had this huge movie star husband, but it just seemed completely natural,” she recounted to Fox News. The couple adopted two children, Isabella and Connor, before divorcing in 2001. Looking back, Kidman acknowledges that being thrust into the limelight so young shaped her relationship with fame and privacy.
Yet, as Kidman is quick to point out, even a highly publicized first divorce did little to prepare her for the emotional terrain of her second. “It’s all new. Every time!” she told British Vogue with a rueful laugh. The pain, the uncertainty, the need to adapt—none of it, she suggests, gets any easier with experience. “Free falling? Jumping off? Like, where am I going? And what’s next?” she mused, searching for words to capture the sensation of starting over at 59.
Kidman credits her late mother, Janelle Ann Kidman, who died in September 2024, and other women in her life as “incredible mentors” who have informed her outlook. “Part of the way they approach life was sometimes [to say to me]: ‘Nicole, you just got to take it on the chin.’ Once you accept that, instead of going, ‘Well that’s not fair or it’s unjust,’ you go, ‘Well, yes, actually it isn’t fair. Because things are not fair.’” She added, “I know my character. I know my talent. I know who I am.”
It’s a philosophy that has helped Kidman weather the storms of fame, heartbreak, and reinvention. She describes her life as “well-examined,” full of trying things, making mistakes, failing, getting back up, moving on, embracing love, and staying open to new possibilities. “If I make a mistake and it doesn’t connect, or something goes wrong in my life where it’s humiliating, it’s OK. Other people have had that and that’s OK. Take the onus off it.”
Even as she navigates personal upheaval, Kidman continues to thrive professionally. She is set to star in Practical Magic 2, alongside Sandra Bullock, with the film scheduled for release on September 10. Other upcoming projects include the film The Young People and the TV series Discretion. Her recent nomination for her leading role in Babygirl at the Golden Globes is further testament to her enduring talent and resilience.
To escape the constant scrutiny of fame, Kidman admits to occasionally donning dark glasses or a wig and going dancing incognito. “I’ll put on glasses. Sometimes I’ll wear a wig to hide, a little dark wig, and then I can just dance. As long as I’m surrounded by people – like, I take people with me – then I’m fine. I need it,” she shared with Vogue. It’s a small act of rebellion, a way to reclaim a sense of normalcy and joy amid the chaos.
As Nicole Kidman steps forward into an unknown future—one shaped by loss, love, and relentless change—she does so with a sense of hope and a deep trust in her own character. “You have to adjust. You adapt. The future, it’s completely unknown to me right now,” she repeats, not as a lament, but as a declaration of possibility. For Kidman, the story isn’t about endings, but about the courage to keep moving forward, no matter what comes next.