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Nicole Kidman missed out on receiving the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at Venice Film Festival on Saturday (September 7) due to the death of her mother, Janelle Ann Kidman. She was 84.
The actor received the award for her role in Babygirl, Halina Reijn’s erotic thriller in which Kidman stars opposite Harris Dickinson (Triangle of Sadness).
Reijn read a statement on Kidman’s behalf, saying she had flown into Venice, only to find out “shortly after that my beautiful, brave mother, Janelle Ann Kidman, has just passed.”
“I’m in shock and I have to go to my family, but this award is for her. She shaped me, she guided me and she made me. I am beyond grateful that I get to say her name to all of you through Halina,” the statement continued. “The collision of life and art is heartbreaking, and my heart is broken.”
After reading Kidman’s words, Bodies Bodies Bodies filmmaker Reijn said: “We love you all, Nicole.”
Kidman’s representative confirmed Janelle’s death to People magazine, adding that “the family is heartbroken and asks for privacy at this time.”
In a 2020 interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Kidman credited her mother with motivating her throughout her career.
“She’s given me the fire to pursue the career I have because I’ve always wanted to please her,” Kidman said. “But she also carved her own path and wanted her daughters to have the same opportunity to carve their own paths.”
“Mum didn’t necessarily get the career that she wanted, but she was determined that her daughters would have opportunities that were equal,” Kidman added. “That’s given me my life. And she gave me my life, she and my dad.”
Babygirl follows a powerful CEO who jeopardizes her career and family life by having an affair with a younger intern.
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Banderas plays Kidman’s character’s husband and Dickinson plays the intern.
In her director’s statement, Reijn wrote: “The affair at the heart of Babygirl allows Romy and Samuel to play out their confusion around power, gender, age, hierarchy, and primal instinct.
“Despite its forbidden nature, the joy of that exploration is liberating, even healing.”
Kidman can also currently be seen in Netflix’s new drama, The Perfect Couple.
The series, based on Elin Hilderbrand’s 2018 novel, follows the chaos that ensues when a body is discovered ahead of a lavish wedding ceremony.
Kidman stars as Greer Garrison, the groom’s mother, alongside Eve Hewson as Amelia Sachs, the bride-to-be. The White Lotus alum Meghann Fahy, Liev Schreiber and Dakota Fanning also feature.
Babygirl is released in the US on December 25 and in the UK on January 10.
