Nicole Kidman is no doubt relieved that domestic life in Nashville with her husband of 12 years, Keith Urban – with whom she’s raising their two daughters, Sunday Rose, 10, and Faith Margaret, 7 – is happily “boring”.
As far as Kidman is concerned, she and Urban are old news within their local community.
“Well, Keith has lived in Nashville for 30 years and I have been there now for 12 years, so we’re just very much a part of it.”
“Keith and I actually have a very normal life. We say it over and over again and people always go, ‘Yeah, right’,” she says, rolling her eyes. “But we really do. We work hard for it and we protect it.”
As the reviews start to trickle in for The Goldfinch, not all of them glowing, does Kidman think were daughters Faith and Sunday will follow either of their parents’ creative pursuits?
She cracks up laughing. “Keith just sent me a video of Faith playing violin.” She leans in. “I think I must have watched it 20 times. I called him and I said, ‘She’s fantastic!’” she roars, proudly. “And he’s like, ‘She’s getting better!’”
But at this point, she doesn’t take it seriously.
“They are seven and 10 years old. They don’t know yet want they want to do. The world is their oyster, and I mean, a child changes on a whim, right? Before I decided to be an actress, I wanted to be an astronaut, and before that, a ballet dancer,” she laughs.
The only recent stumbling block in her seemingly idyllic world was the sudden death of her father, Antony, in 2014. She and her younger sister, Antonia, remain very close to their mother, Janelle, a former nursing instructor, who still resides in Sydney.
Growing up, Nicole and Antonia enjoyed an open and honest relationship with their parents, especially when it came to difficult subjects such as sexuality.
“My dad started as a biochemist and he became a psychologist. We could ask anything and he would give us a very direct answer. They both had a very scientific approach to things and were very upfront and direct. I am very grateful for that. And it’s interesting because as a result of being able to ask them anything, the family is very, very close.
“And I still feel like I can tell my mother anything, which is a great thing.” She laughs.
“She won’t necessarily agree, but I can tell her and she will have an opinion, and that is fine. I love that that’s the nature of our family and our extended family.”
“I live in Nashville for a reason. I like the peacefulness, I like the solitude. We have a very simple life there so that is probably why I don’t feel like I live this grand celebrity life. I step in for a moment and then I step out – back to all the real day-to-day things.
“It’s not that I don’t appreciate and understand and have gratitude for that incredible gift I’ve been given, but the reason I keep saying, ‘No, I am an actor’ is because it keeps it on the work and not about me.”
“If you had told me when I was 14 years old, when I began working as an actress, that I was actually going to work with Meryl [Streep, with whom she stars in Big Little Lies], I would have never believed it.
“She was so much a guiding light for me in her pursuit of excellence, in the way she conducted herself and that she managed to have marriage, children and a career.”
She shakes her head in disbelief.
“Talk about a woman that is fully grounded. And it’s great that she continues to be a trailblazer.
“I hope I can do that for the next generation and keep passing it on.”
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