The iconic AMC spokeswoman revealed the reason why she stayed behind in her native home of Australia following her arrival in Sydney for a local premiere of ‘Being the Ricardos’. Kidman shared with NPR’s Terry Gross on “Fresh Air” that she had returned to her home country due to her mother, Janelle Kidman’s health problems.
The time comes after the 54-year-old actor and her mother spent time apart due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the New Zealand Herald.
“We’re down here primarily to take care of my mother and to have her surrounded by her grandchildren,” Kidman said. Kidman took her 82-year-old mother to a Matisse exhibit despite the rampant Omicron variant rushing through Australia at the time.
“We were able to take her into the gallery after hours and show her the Matisse exhibit, which coming from a mother who’s raised me in the arts, it was soothing balm,” Kidman said. “Matisse was soothing balm last night.”
Kidman mentioned how grateful she feels about taking care of her mother due to what she might learn from her mother. Kidman spoke highly of her mother, saying that despite her age, she still was “bright and cognizant.”
Kidman explained how her time with her mother allowed her to see the world differently. “I’m jumping into the psychology and emotional place of that. And it’s her perspective, obviously,” she said to Terry Gross as they finished their interview.
This is not the first time that Kidman’s mother has caught media attention for her health problems as she suffered a heart attack in 2016 and was rushed to Sydney’s Royal North Shore hospital.
