Nicole Kidman is training to become a death doula as she deals with the grief since losing her own mother.
The actress, 58, shared the update during a recent conversation at the University of San Francisco, explaining that the decision came after the loss of her mother, Janelle Ann Kidman, in September 2024.
“When my mother passed away, she was lonely, and there was only so much the family could provide,” Kidman told attendees via the Chronicle.
Looking back on that time, Kidman said her mother often felt lonely in her final days, despite being surrounded by family.
The actress also described the moment that really sparked the urge in her to take the new path despite a glamorous career.
“My sister and I have so many children and our careers and our jobs, and we want to take care of her because my father was no longer in the world, and then I said, ‘I wish there were people in the world who were there to be impartial and just provide comfort and care.'”
“So that’s part of my growth and one of the things I’m going to learn,” she concluded.
The role, also called an end-of-life doula, focuses on helping people navigate the dying process with dignity, while also supporting loved ones through the experience.
Kidman has spoken openly about her grief in recent years, following the deaths of both her parents. Her father, Antony Kidman, died in 2014.
The actress learned of her mother’s death while attending the Venice Film Festival, where she had been promoting a project, before leaving early to be with her family.
