Nicole Kidman has completely changed career away from the spotlight

Nicole Kidman is a grade A Hollywood celeb who made her name on both the big and small screen, so a career change has come as a surprise to many.

The Australian star has had a lot going on lately following her high-profile split from Keith Urban, as well as the tragic passing of her mother at the age of 84-years-old.

Her mum, Janelle Ann Kidman, sadly died in September 2024 and a devastated Nicole left the Venice Film Festival early, declaring "My heart is broken."

Kidman shared a written statement at the time, saying she had just arrived in Venice, to find out that her 'beautiful, brave mother, Janelle Ann Kidman, has just passed.'

In the months after her bereavement, the Big Little Lies icon took stock of her life and what she wanted to do, and decided on a new career path which she acknowledged is 'a little weird'.

Nicole Kidman was very close with her mother Janelle, seen here with her niece, Lucia Hawley (Photo by James D. Morgan/Getty Images)

Kidman, 58, shared the news of her career change with students at the University of San Francisco, where she appeared as one of their Silk Speakers.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, she told them that she had decided to become a 'death doula' and acknowledged it may 'sound a little weird' but said it is all part of her 'expansion.'

“As my mother was passing, she was lonely, and there was only so much the family could provide,” the Babygirl star explained.

She continued: “Between my sister, and I, we have so many children and our careers and our work, but we wanted to take care of her because my father, wasn’t in the world anymore.”

Recalling her mother's final days, she said she spent the time thinking “I wish there were these people in the world that were there to sit impartially and just provide solace and care."

She soon found out that there is an option, death doulas, and said "So that’s part of my expansion and one of the things I will be learning."

Many people are familiar with the 'term' doula for assisting births, but according to the International End-of-Life Doula Association, they also help when it is someone's time to go, too.

Death doulas are said to help ease the time around death for the person and their loved ones (Getty Stock)

Death doulas are 'non-medical professionals' who help people to 'navigate death, loss, and mortality.'

She also told the students that the hardest part of her job is 'taking care of my health and taking care of my mental health and being able to show up and give it my all, and not ever coasting.'

In the months after her mother's death, Kidman spoke to CBS Sunday News about the final conversation they had.

"The final words my mama said, which I didn’t know were gonna be the final words … I was going to get on a plane and go back to see her,” she recalled on “CBS Sunday Morning.”

“And she was like, ‘Maybe wait a minute because I think you just need to take care of yourself right now, Nicky," she added.

“So, I’m doing that more. And I say that to other people in the world, and particularly women. I think we tend not to take care of ourselves," before expressing her wishes as a mother to Isabella, 31, and Connor, 29, with ex-husband Tom Cruise; and daughters Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 15, with etranged-husband Keith Urban.

“Obviously, I’m an older mother so I want to be around for a long time for my girls," she finished by saying.