Nicole Kidman Was Going To 'Give Up' Acting And Have A Baby But Her Mom Convinced Her Not To

Jan 27, 2022 by apost team

Actress Nicole Kidman, 54, is one of Hollywood's premier actresses working today. She got her start in her native Australia in the 1980s, and her talent and gorgeous looks quickly brought her success — by the early '90s, she'd received worldwide attention and had already made an impression in Hollywood.

Ever since, she's continued to stay at the top and has earned herself a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an Academy Award and multiple other honors. These days she's still acting in projects that draw acclaim, including "Nine Perfect Strangers" and "Being the Ricardos," for which she won a Golden Globe Award this year.

But despite being one of the top actresses in Hollywood, Nicole revealed that she nearly gave up her craft soon after she gave birth to her first daughter. Fans of the actress know that family is incredibly important to her. After Nicole married country music star Keith Urban in 2006 in Sydney, Australia, the couple went on to have two daughters, 13-year-old Sunday Rose and 11-year-old Faith Margaret. 

And while having a family hasn't slowed down Nicole's career at all, she did reveal that she wanted to "give up" acting in lieu of raising her kids. But thankfully, Nicole's own mother, Janelle, gave her some wise words of advice that inspired her to keep going — lucky for all of us! In fact, Nicole has spoken about how it's those closest to her — including her mom and younger sister — that she relies on to give her advice in her life.

Nicole gave birth to her and Urban's first daughter in 2008, followed by a second daughter in 2010. In an Associated Press interview with "The Beguiled" director, Sofia Coppola, as reported by Yahoo, Nicole revealed that having babies made her want to give up acting. She said:

"At one point, I think I was pregnant with Sunday, and I was like, 'I’m going to give up acting, I’m done. It’s too much. And the baby and that’s it.'"

But thankfully for her and the rest of the world, someone who knew her even better — Nicole's mom Janelle Ann Kidman, 81 — gave her some sage advice that meant she didn't give up on her passion so easily. Nicole continued:

"And my mom was like, 'Don’t do that. Take some time off but don’t give it up.'" 

Nicole's mom told her: "Keep your toe in the water because ... you're going to want that as you get older." The actress added:

"And it’s also healthy, if you have a creative spirit and you’re artistic, there does have to be a place for that."

It wasn't the only time Nicole opened up about the topic. In an interview with Today, as reported by RTE, she had a similar sentiment:

"I went through a period, particularly after I gave birth to Sunday, where I was pretty much done. I was pretty much going to finish up my career."

Janelle once again had wise words for her daughter when she told her:

"Everything in your life has always been hard won, you have never been given things on a platter. You had to audition and work and really ... in terms of career-wise, it was a long, hard road ... You don't just abandon it."

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Nicole is close not only to her immediate family but also to the members she grew up in. When she and her daughters came to Australia to film "Nine Perfect Strangers," her sister Antonia Kidman and her mom moved in with them. She told The New York Times, as per Hello! Magazine:

"My sister's staying over and my mum's helping; I don't have that help in Nashville so that's been incredible."

In fact, Janelle has been an inspiration for Nicole since she was a child. During a recent interview with The Guardian, the actress revealed that her feminist mom took her to women's rights meetings. She recalled:

"A hundred women, sitting around talking and smoking. I can’t remember the actual conversations, but I remember eating a lot of biscuits.” 

It seems Nicole is also teaching her own daughters that kind of empowerment too. She revealed in the same interview that she has been focusing on female empowerment in Hollywood. She spoke of working with more female-directed films and shows in her own career, as her "way of going, 'Hold me accountable.'" She vowed:

"My commitment to this industry is that I will give a platform for new voices to come forward and they can piggyback on me ... That's part of the 'paying it forward.'"

She also added that she has "a 13-year-old who wants to be a director — she's really interested in comedy." There's no doubt that sticking to her acting career and now using her influence to help women in Hollywood will have an impact on her own family and the next generation of female creatives in the industry. 

Did you know Nicole Kidman wanted to quit acting when she was pregnant with her first daughter? Are you glad she kept pursuing her passion? Let us know, then pass this on so others can read about it too.