Nicole Kidman misses Venice Awards due to death of her mother

Nicole Kidman mourns the death of her mother.

At the Venice International Film Festival, jury president Isabelle Huppert announced on Saturday that the Moulin Rouge The actress won the festival’s Volpi Cup as Best Actress for her performance in Baby, However, she was unable to accept the award in person. Instead, the film's director, Halina Reijn, took the stage and read a statement written by Kidman.

“Today I arrived in Venice and shortly after I learned that my beautiful, brave mother Janelle Ann Kidman has just died,” Reijn read on Kidman's behalf. “I am in shock and I need to go to my family, but this award is for her. She shaped me, she guided me and she created me.”

Kidman expressed that she felt honored to invoke her mother in front of the Venice audience. “I am beyond grateful to be able to say her name to all of you through Halina,” she said. “The collision of life and art is heartbreaking and my heart is broken.”

Reijn concluded her remarks with her own words: “We all love you, Nicole.”

A spokesman for Kidman confirmed her mother’s death to Weekly entertainmentadding: “The family is heartbroken and asks for privacy at this time.”

Kidman briefly discussed her mother's health in an interview with NPRs in 2022 Fresh airwhich she directed from her native Australia. “We're here mainly to look after my mother and surround her with her grandchildren,” she said. “We were able to take her to the gallery after hours and show her the Matisse exhibition. That was a blessing for me, coming from a mother who raised me in the arts.”

The actress also praised her mother in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald. “She gave me the fire to pursue my career because I always wanted to please her … but she also forged her own path and wanted her daughters to have the same opportunity to pursue their own path,” Kidman said. “Mom didn't necessarily pursue the career she wanted, but she was determined that her daughters would have the same opportunities.”

Want more movie news? Sign up for The Free newsletter with the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, movie reviews and more.

The death of Kidman's mother comes amid a particularly busy chapter in the actress' career. Kidman recently starred alongside Zac Efron in the age-gap romantic comedy A family affairwhich is currently streaming on Netflix. Her upcoming film Babygirl is also an age difference romance, albeit one with a far more dramatic tone, in which she The Iron Clawby Harris Dickinson. The film will be released in theaters on Christmas Day.

On the small screen, Kidman directed Lulu Wang’s Expats earlier this year, and she is also a headliner The perfect couplewhich premiered on Netflix on Thursday. In addition, the actress will lend her voice to the Netflix animated film BanishedRelease date expected on November 22nd.