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Nicole Kidman’s Surprising New Role: Death Doula

The actor opens up about her mother’s ‘lonely’ final days and what she plans to do about it

Donna Freydkin,

AARP

Published April 13, 2026

Nicole Kidman says caring for her mother in her final days inspired her to train as a death doula.

Emma McIntyre/WireImage/Getty Images

Key takeaways

Nicole Kidman says her mother’s final days inspired her to train to become a death doula.
Death doulas provide nonmedical emotional and practical support to dying people and their families.
Kidman says grief has no timetable and believes people should mourn in their own way.

Nicole Kidman, 58, says watching her mother die taught her a difficult truth about end-of-life care: Even loving families cannot do it all alone.

Now the Oscar winner says she is going to become part of that support system: She revealed over the weekend that she is training to become a death doula after helping care for her mother, Janelle Kidman, who died in September 2024. Kidman spoke on April 11 during a sold-out appearance at the University of San Francisco’s Silk Speaker Series, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

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“As my mother was passing, she was lonely, and there was only so much the family could provide,” Kidman told the crowd. “Between my sister and I, we have so many children and our careers and our work, and wanting to take care of her because my father wasn’t in the world anymore, and that’s when I went, ‘I wish there was these people in the world that were there to sit impartially and just provide solace and care.’ So that’s part of my expansion and one of the things I will be learning.”

Kidman said the experience pushed her to begin training as a death doula, a nonmedical role that supports dying people and their families through the practical and emotional realities of end-of-life care.

While hospice workers and medical teams manage treatment and pain, death doulas focus on the emotional and logistical support that families often struggle to provide.

The actor has said she believes grief has no timetable. “I’m allowed to process it and grieve in the way I want to,” she told CBS Sunday Morning in December 2024.

On what would have been her mother’s 85th birthday in March 2025, Kidman posted on Instagram: “Missing Mumma and Papa so much on what would have been her birthday today.” A year later, the post was simpler: “Remembering my Mumma on her birthday. Always in my heart.”

Kidman’s new Apple TV series Margo’s Got Money Troubles debuts on April 15.

The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Donna Freydkin has spent 10-plus years interviewing celebrities for major publications, and has written for a variety of outlets such as USA Today, Allure, Yahoo! and CNN covering topics such as films, family and favorite meals.