Wait, what?! Nicole Kidman is training to become a "death doula"

Photo: Nicole Kidman/Valérie Macon/AFP/Getty Images

Nicole Kidman has revealed her next role: she is training to become a "death doula."

The Australian actress revealed that she is pursuing this training – professionals who provide emotional, physical and psychological support to people at the end of life – during a talk at the University of San Francisco.

A doula is typically a professional who assists women during pregnancy and childbirth in a non-medical manner. Meanwhile, “death doulas” have become more common in recent years, and some prefer the term “end-of-life doula.”

Kidman told the audience that the idea of ??becoming a death doula came to her after her mother, Janelle Ann, passed away at the age of 84 in 2024.

She admitted that this might sound a little strange.

“When my mother was passing away, she was lonely and there was only so much the family could do,” Kidman said. “My sister and I have a lot of kids and careers and commitments, and we wanted to take care of her, because my father was gone. And then I thought, ‘I wish there were people who would be there, just stand there and be impartial and just offer comfort and care.’”

“It's a part of my development and one of the things I'm going to learn,” she added.

In September 2024, Kidman won the Best Actress award for her role in the film "Babygirl" at the Venice Film Festival, but missed the ceremony to be with her family when her mother passed away. Her father, Antony, had died in 2014.

Kidman isn't the only one in Hollywood to have taken this path: Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao has also trained as a death doula, due to her fear of dying.

“I’ve been afraid of death my whole life. I still am,” Zhao told the New York Times in January.

"And because of this fear I haven't been able to live fully... so I need to build a healthier relationship with him, otherwise the second half of life will be very difficult."