Nicole Kidman, 59, Opens Up About Life After Keith Urban and the Warning She Got Before Marrying Tom Cruise — Photos
That lifelong passion was on full display at the Chanel Cruise show in Biarritz in April, where she turned heads in a black column dress and tiny sunglasses.
But when Hattersley asked how she manages to appear so at ease when all eyes are on her, Kidman traced that confidence back to something that happened when she was barely out of her teens.
“Strangely enough, I feel comfortable. Is that weird? That’s so weird,” she said, laughing. “But you have to remember, literally, because of who I married at such a young age, I was thrust into it since I was 22.”
Nicole Kidman attends the Chanel Cruise Show in Biarritz alongside A$AP Rocky, Michaela Coel and Tilda Swinton in April 2026. The actress later told British Vogue that she feels surprisingly comfortable in the spotlight, a confidence she traces back to being thrust into the world of cameras and fashion at just 22. | Source: Getty Images
Suddenly, cameras, flashbulbs, and fashion were unavoidable parts of her life, and the actress was constantly aware that people were watching her.
Although Kidman said she is naturally shy, years of living in that environment have made stepping into the spotlight feel almost instinctive. “[My life has been] more time like that than not. My memory of it not being that is quite blurry, because I was really young.”
Nicole Kidman attends the First Annual Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards in Los Angeles in 1996, early in the period when cameras, flashbulbs and intense public attention became a constant part of her life. Looking back, Kidman said the experience began so young that she can barely remember what life was like before the spotlight. | Source: Getty Images
She Was Only 22 When Everything Changed
That transformation in Kidman’s life began around the same time she married Cruise, whom she met while establishing herself in Hollywood.
“Yeah, I got married so young,” she recalled. “Suddenly I was 22, 23 years old and I had this huge movie star husband. But it just seemed completely natural. We just fell madly in love, and it was that simple.”
The marriage lasted a decade, and Kidman said the experience changed not only her personal life but also the way the public viewed her career. That is where a piece of advice she received at the time becomes particularly interesting.
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman attend an event together in Los Angeles in 2001, during their decade-long marriage. Kidman later recalled being only 22 or 23 when she became the wife of one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, describing their whirlwind romance as something that felt completely natural at the time. | Source: Getty Images
