Nicole Kidman Biography 2026: Oscar Win, Big Little Lies, Family, Net Worth and New Movies

Nicole Mary Kidman is an Australian-American actress, producer and philanthropist whose career has lasted more than four decades. Born in Honolulu on June 20, 1967, to Australian parents and raised mainly in Sydney, she began acting as a teenager before becoming internationally known through Dead Calm, To Die For, Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge!, The Hours, The Others, Big Little Lies, The Undoing, Being the Ricardos and Big Little Lies. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Hours, became an Emmy winner for Big Little Lies, and has collected multiple Golden Globes and other major honors. In 2026, Kidman remains highly active. She starred in Scarpetta, returned for season 3 of Lioness, served as an executive producer and cast member on Margo’s Got Money Troubles, and is preparing to return as Gillian Owens in Practical Magic 2, which is scheduled for September 10, 2026. 

Summary

• Full name: Nicole Mary Kidman

• Date of birth: June 20, 1967

• Current age: 59 as of September 8, 2026

• Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

• Nationality: Australian-American; she was born to Australian parents and is reported to hold dual citizenship

• Profession: Actress, producer and philanthropist

• Years active: Since 1983

• Education: Lane Cove Public School, North Sydney Girls High School, acting training through the Phillip Street Theatre and Australian Theatre for Young People

• Major breakthrough: Dead Calm in 1989

• Best-known roles: Satine in Moulin Rouge!, Virginia Woolf in The Hours, Celeste Wright in Big Little Lies, Grace Fraser in The Undoing, Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos and Masha in Nine Perfect Strangers

• Major awards: Academy Award, multiple Golden Globes, two Primetime Emmys and major Australian industry honors

• Current 2026 work: Lioness Season 3, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Scarpetta Season 2 and Practical Magic 2 are among the key projects connected to her current career. 

Early Life and Childhood

Nicole Mary Kidman was born on June 20, 1967, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her parents, Antony David Kidman and Janelle Ann Kidman, were Australians who were temporarily living in the United States while her father pursued academic work. The family later returned to Australia, and Nicole grew up mainly in Sydney.

Kidman was raised alongside her younger sister, Antonia. Her family had a strong interest in education, books and public affairs, and that environment helped shape Nicole's early interest in performance and storytelling. 

As a child, Kidman was already interested in acting. She began ballet at around three years old and later became involved in drama. Her pale complexion often meant she had to avoid strong sunlight, and she has spoken about spending time indoors reading. The combination of reading and acting became an important part of her childhood.

By her teenage years, acting was no longer just a hobby. She attended classes at the Phillip Street Theatre and became involved with the Australian Theatre for Young People. At the time, she was also dealing with the normal pressures of growing up, including shyness and insecurity about her appearance. 

Instead of following a conventional path through school and university, Kidman moved toward acting full-time as professional opportunities began to appear.

Education

Kidman attended Lane Cove Public School and North Sydney Girls High School in Sydney. She also received practical acting experience through theatre organizations, including the Phillip Street Theatre and the Australian Theatre for Young People.

She did not follow the traditional university route. Her professional training came largely through performing, theatre classes and early work in Australian film and television.

This practical approach was important because Kidman's career began while she was still young. The Australian Theatre for Young People became one of the places where she developed her understanding of acting, stage work and performance discipline. 

Beginning of Career

Nicole Kidman's screen career began in Australia. One of her earliest notable film roles was in Bush Christmas in 1983, followed by appearances in projects such as BMX Bandits, television productions and Australian miniseries.

These early roles helped her gain experience before she moved into more demanding dramatic parts.

The major change came with Dead Calm in 1989. The psychological thriller, directed by Phillip Noyce, brought Kidman international attention and helped Hollywood audiences notice her. UN Women later described Dead Calm as the performance through which she first came to the attention of American audiences. 

In 1990, she appeared opposite Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder. That film gave her a much larger Hollywood platform and began a period in which she worked in both mainstream studio films and more unusual dramatic projects.

Kidman never limited herself to one type of role. Even during the early Hollywood period, she continued moving between romantic dramas, psychological films, comedies and prestige productions.

Breakthrough

For many audiences, Kidman's breakthrough was Dead Calm, but her transformation into one of Hollywood's leading dramatic performers happened over several years.

To Die For in 1995 was particularly important. She played Suzanne Stone, a television personality whose ambition drives the story. The role showed that Kidman could carry a film while playing a character who was far removed from the conventional sympathetic leading woman. She won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for the performance. 

Her work with directors such as Jane Campion, Stanley Kubrick, Gus Van Sant and Baz Luhrmann helped establish her as an actress willing to take risks.

Then came Moulin Rouge! in 2001. Kidman's performance as Satine combined acting, singing and physical performance in one of the defining musical films of the early 2000s. She received an Academy Award nomination and won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. 

One year later, she reached an even higher point with The Hours.

Major Career

The Hours and the Academy Award

In The Hours, Kidman played writer Virginia Woolf. The performance required her to take on a historical figure while matching a film built around three connected female performances.

The work was recognized across the awards season. Kidman won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Actress, making The Hours the film that gave her the industry's biggest individual acting prize. The Academy records the film as an eight-nomination, one-win film for Kidman's acting category, while the Golden Globes lists her 2003 Best Actress win.

She continued taking challenging roles after the Oscar rather than simply choosing conventional blockbuster parts.

Her filmography included The Others, Cold Mountain, The Interpreter, Birth, Dogville, The Stepford Wives, Australia, Rabbit Hole, The Paperboy, The Railway Man, Lion, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Destroyer.

Moving strongly into television

Kidman's career took another major turn in the 2010s as prestige television became a bigger part of Hollywood.

Her most important television role arrived with HBO's Big Little Lies. She played Celeste Wright and also worked behind the scenes as an executive producer.

The Television Academy lists Kidman as the winner of two 2017 Emmys: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her performance as Celeste and Outstanding Limited Series as an executive producer of Big Little Lies. 

The success of Big Little Lies strengthened Kidman's reputation as both a performer and a producer. She increasingly became involved in developing projects rather than simply appearing in them.

The Undoing, Nine Perfect Strangers and later television work

Kidman followed Big Little Lies with several major television projects.

In The Undoing, she played Grace Fraser opposite Hugh Grant. The role brought another awards-season run and demonstrated her ability to lead a darker psychological drama.

She then starred in and executive produced Nine Perfect Strangers, playing the mysterious wellness guru Masha. She returned as Masha for the second season, which premiered in May 2025. 

Her television work has also included Expats, The Perfect Couple and Lioness. Netflix lists The Perfect Couple as a six-episode 2024 limited drama starring Kidman, Liev Schreiber and Eve Hewson. 

Producing and Blossom Films

Producing has become an important part of Kidman's career. Through Blossom Films, she has been involved with a number of film and television productions, including Big Little Lies, The Undoing, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Last Anniversary, Scarpetta and Margo’s Got Money Troubles.

That side of her career matters because Kidman's impact is no longer limited to acting. She has increasingly helped bring stories to television and film and has used that position to support projects centered on women and complex female characters.

Recent films

Kidman's recent film work has included Being the Ricardos, The Northman, The Batman-related voice and franchise work, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Holland and Babygirl.

For Being the Ricardos, she portrayed Lucille Ball. She received another Golden Globe win in 2022 for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. 

In 2025, she appeared in Babygirl, which brought another Golden Globe nomination, and in Good Fortune. Her 2026 career then moved back heavily toward television and franchise filmmaking.

Major Movies and TV Shows

Kidman's Golden Globes career alone includes 18 nominations and six wins, covering performances from To Die For through Being the Ricardos, as well as television work such as Big Little Lies. (Golden Globes)

Personal Life

Family

Nicole Kidman was born to Australian parents Antony and Janelle Kidman. Her father was a scientist, academic and psychologist, while her mother was involved in nursing, education and women's rights activism.

Kidman has one younger sister, Antonia, who has worked in television and media. Family has remained important to Kidman throughout her life, even though she has generally kept many private matters away from the public.

Kidman has four children.

She shares two older children, Isabella "Bella" and Connor, with her former husband Tom Cruise. She later had two daughters, Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret, with country musician Keith Urban.

Sunday was born in July 2008, while Faith was born in December 2010 through a gestational surrogate. Kidman has also spoken about the importance of protecting her children's privacy while supporting their own interests. 

Her younger daughters have increasingly appeared in fashion and public life. Sunday Rose made her runway debut in 2024 and attended the 2026 Met Gala with her mother. 

Relationships

Kidman's first high-profile marriage was to Tom Cruise. They married in 1990 after meeting during the making of Days of Thunder and later appeared together in Far and Away and Eyes Wide Shut. The marriage ended in divorce in 2001. 

In 2006, Kidman married musician Keith Urban. Their marriage lasted 19 years and produced two daughters, Sunday and Faith.

The couple separated in September 2025, and their divorce was finalized on January 6, 2026, according to court records reported by USA TODAY and other outlets. Their parenting arrangements were settled as part of the divorce. 

Kidman has been notably careful about discussing the reasons behind the breakup. In a 2026 interview discussed by The Guardian, she acknowledged that the end of the marriage was an unexpectedly difficult change in her life but said she was adapting to her new circumstances.

As of September 8, 2026, she is divorced. There is no publicly confirmed new marriage or long-term partner announced by Kidman herself.

Lifestyle and Personality

Kidman is known for keeping parts of her private life away from constant media attention. At the same time, she has become more open in recent interviews about work, motherhood, friendship and major life changes.

A 2026 British Vogue interview showed a more personal side of her life after the divorce. She described herself as trying to remain open to the future rather than pretending she knows exactly what comes next. 

She also remains interested in fashion and has a long connection with luxury fashion houses. Vogue reported in 2025 that Kidman had become an official Chanel ambassador.

Friends and Professional Relationships

Kidman has formed important friendships and working relationships throughout her career.

Her connection with Sandra Bullock is one of the most visible. The two first worked together on Practical Magic in 1998 and reunited nearly three decades later for Practical Magic 2. Their 2026 interviews also highlighted the friendship that developed through years of knowing each other.

She has also maintained long-running professional relationships with producers, writers and directors including David E. Kelley, Jane Campion, Baz Luhrmann and others. Her collaboration with Kelley, in particular, has shaped a substantial part of her television career.

Philanthropy, Charity and Causes

Nicole Kidman's humanitarian work is one of the most significant parts of her life outside entertainment.

She became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1994 and later took on an international role with the United Nations Development Fund for Women, now part of UN Women.

UN Women says Kidman was appointed Goodwill Ambassador in January 2006 and has focused her advocacy on women's human rights and ending violence against women. She has traveled to countries where UN Women programs operate, met with survivors and supported fundraising efforts. (United Nations Press)

In 2012, she received a humanitarian award from the Kuwait-America Foundation, accompanied by a $250,000 donation directed toward a UN Women initiative supporting women's economic empowerment in Jordan. (UN Women)

Her advocacy has also included campaigns such as UN Women's "Say NO–UNiTE to End Violence Against Women" initiative.

Kidman has also supported Australian screen talent. In 2025, AACTA announced that she was contributing funds to the Brian Walsh Award for emerging Australian talent. (

In 2006, Australia named Kidman a Companion of the Order of Australia for services to the performing arts, health care, young people and humanitarian causes. 

Awards and Nominations

The major award records are supported by official Academy, Golden Globes, Television Academy, BAFTA, AACTA and AFI records. The Television Academy currently lists four Emmy nominations for Kidman and two wins, including her acting and producing victories for Big Little Lies. (Oscars)

The AFI Life Achievement Award was especially significant. AFI recognized Kidman in 2024 as the first Australian actor to receive the honor, describing her career as spanning both mainstream filmmaking and work with major auteur directors. (AFI)

Latest Career Developments

Nicole Kidman's 2026 career has been unusually busy.

One of her biggest television moves was Scarpetta, the Prime Video adaptation of Patricia Cornwell's bestselling novels. Kidman stars as Dr. Kay Scarpetta and also serves as an executive producer. The eight-episode first season began streaming in March 2026, and Amazon confirmed that all eight episodes were available worldwide. 

The series has already been renewed for a second season, with production reported to have begun in March 2026. A premiere date for season 2 has not yet been announced. 

Kidman also returned to Lioness. Season 3 premiered August 2, 2026, with new episodes released weekly. Paramount+ currently lists Kidman among the starring cast and executive producers, with Episode 6 released on September 6. The season finale is scheduled for September 20, 2026. 

Another major 2026 project was Margo’s Got Money Troubles. The Apple TV series premiered on April 15, 2026. Kidman stars as Lace and also serves as an executive producer.

The production also received significant Emmy recognition in 2026. Margo’s Got Money Troubles was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, with Kidman listed among the executive producers. 

Outside television, Kidman's most immediate major film project is Practical Magic 2. She reprises Gillian Owens alongside Sandra Bullock, returning to the characters they first played in the 1998 film. The sequel is scheduled for a September 10, 2026 theatrical release, making it one of Kidman's most important current film events.

Kidman's 2026 personal and professional life has therefore been moving in several directions at once: a new chapter following divorce, active television production, a renewed franchise role and continued work as a producer.

Current Projects

Kidman's 2026 professional workload shows how much her career has expanded beyond traditional film acting. She is now regularly working as an actor and producer on the same projects. (TVmaze)

Net Worth

Nicole Kidman's net worth is not publicly confirmed through audited financial records.

Entertainment publications and celebrity-finance websites commonly estimate her fortune at around $250 million. Celebrity Net Worth currently lists that figure, while Parade also reported the same estimate in 2026. These figures should be treated as estimates rather than an official statement of Kidman's personal wealth. (Celebrity Net Worth)

Her earnings have come from decades of film and television work, producing, endorsements and other business interests. Her television work has also reportedly involved very large per-episode salaries, particularly on major productions such as The Undoing and Nine Perfect Strangers. Because private contracts, investments, taxes and assets are not fully public, no website can reliably state her exact current net worth.

Career Highlights

References

• Golden Globes — Nicole Kidman awards record and biography. (Golden Globes)

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — Moulin Rouge! and The Hours records. (Oscars)

• Television Academy — Nicole Kidman Emmy record. (Television Academy)

• BAFTA — Nicole Kidman Leading Actress nominations. (Bafta)

• American Film Institute — 2024 Life Achievement Award. (AFI)

• UN Women — Nicole Kidman Goodwill Ambassador profile. (UN Women)

• United Nations — Kidman's 2006 UNIFEM appointment. (United Nations Press)

• Australian Government — 2006 Companion of the Order of Australia. (formerministers.dss.gov.au)

• AACTA — Nicole Kidman's awards and 2026 industry recognition. (AACTA)

• Amazon — Scarpetta streaming and 2026 release information. (Amazon News)

• Paramount+ — Lioness Season 3 schedule and current episodes. (Paramount+)

• Apple TV — Margo’s Got Money Troubles release and production information. (Apple)

• PEOPLE — Practical Magic 2 and Kidman's 2026 interviews. (People.com)

• USA TODAY/consumer reporting — Kidman and Keith Urban divorce finalization. (Yahoo)

• The Guardian — 2026 reporting on Kidman's British Vogue interview. (The Guardian)