Call it a mother’s instinct. Nicole Kidman revealed during a panel talk on Wednesday, January 4, that she had “this sense” that she would adopt before she and ex-husband Tom Cruise adopted their daughter, Isabella, and their son, Connor.
“I hadn’t had an exact vision at the same time as she had,” Kidman, 49, said during a panel talk hosted by Tina Brown, in reference to her character in upcoming film Lion, “but I had a similar feeling and an idea and this sense that I was going to adopt, and I could see the child I was going to adopt.”
In Lion, Kidman plays Australian mother Sue Brierley who, with her husband, John Brierley (David Wenham), adopts a young boy from India, Saroo (Dev Patel). More than 25 years after his adoption, Saroo uses Google Earth to search for his biological mother. The film is based on a true story.
Though Kidman and Cruise, 54, called it quits on their marriage in 2001, during the panel event Wednesday, the Genius actress emphasized her connection to her onscreen character because of her adopted children.
“Of course, when I choose things, I have to be emotionally connected,” she said. “And with this, I was — through the adoption. Also, there’s the power of the unconditional love that a mother gives. A mother is there, whether it’s Sue Brierley in the film, or me with my children. It’s important to emphasize, because a lot of times, with adoptive parents, people think, Oh, it’s for other reasons. People have said that to me, and they have said it to Sue. But when it’s the choice, it’s just the choice.”
Kidman, who married country singer Keith Urban in June 2006, is also mother of daughters Sunday, 8, and Faith, 6. (Kidman gave birth to Sunday in July 2008, and welcomed Faith via surrogate in December 2010.) In an interview with The Moms cohosts Denise Albert and Melissa Musen Gerstein, Kidman explained that the pair make sure to keep their love alive despite a busy home life.
“[We tell them] Mommy and Daddy need to have kissy-kissy time,” she said, Page Six reports.
