The ‘Practical Magic 2’ star opened up about how she approaches living a “well-examined life”
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NEED TO KNOW
- Nicole Kidman spoke to British Vogue about her new movie Practical Magic 2 and life after divorce
- Addressing a difficult year that included ending her 19-year marriage to Keith Urban, Kidman said, “I had a different view of what my life was going to be, but this is what it is now”
- “You have to adjust. You adapt. The future, it’s completely unknown to me right now,” she added
Nicole Kidman is nothing if not adaptable.
Opening up about life in the wake of her divorce from Keith Urban in British Vogue, the actress-producer, 59, said that her “well-examined life” involves “trying things, making mistakes, failing, getting back up, moving on, embracing love, staying open, keeping the heart open and the possibilities.”
Amid the separation from Urban, 58 — which she opted to avoid the particulars of when speaking to British Vogue, the publication wrote — Kidman has embraced a “feelings first” approach to both work and life. “My desire is not to be ruled by my head,” explained the Oscar winner.
“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,’” she said in reference to a difficult year. “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.”
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Nicole and Urban, who married in 2006, announced their split last September and finalized their divorce in January. They are parents to daughters Sunday Rose, 18, and Faith Margaret, 15. (Kidman also shares Bella, 33, and Connor, 31, with ex Tom Cruise).
“There was a point where I was very fearful and deeply vulnerable,” Kidman told British Vogue. “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.’ ”
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The Lioness star credited her mother Janelle Ann Kidman, who died in September 2024, and other women as “incredible mentors” who informed her philosophy. “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.”
Kidman’s next screen project, Practical Magic 2 costarring Sandra Bullock, is in theaters Sept. 10. Among her upcoming credits are the film The Young People and the TV series Discretion.
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