Nicole Kidman is kind of iconic when it comes to picking herself up and dusting herself off.

"Well, I can wear heels now," the 5-foot-11 actress replied on The Late Show in August 2001 when David Letterman asked how life was treating her amid her divorce from roughly 4-inches-shorter Tom Cruise.

Not that the Oscar winner came out firing with the sick burns in the wake of her divorce from Keith Urban last fall (though it sparked remembrances of that instant-classic moment), but she has experience with processing loss and coming out clear-eyed and hopeful on the other side.

Noting that she was doing "all right," Kidman told Variety in March, "I’m always going to be moving toward what’s good. What I’m grateful for is my family and keeping them as is and moving forward. That’s that."

Keeping her family as is includes staying based in Nashville, where she and Urban have been raising their daughters Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 15. (Not to mention, her dear friend Reese Witherspoon lives within walking distance.)

"We have our life here," Kidman—who's also mom to daughter Isabella, 33, and son Connor, 31, with Cruise—explained. “I’m part of the city and community for 20 years. It’s my home.”

And Sunday, who's been modeling for the likes of Miu Miu and Dior for the last couple of years, credited good ol' high school in Nashville for keeping her grounded.

"The privilege of having these experiences and meeting so many new people is so amazing," the recent prom-goer said in Elle Australia's March cover story, "but as a teenager it’s so easy to get sucked in to all of it so fast."

At the same time, she added, "My mum is a really good traveler, so she has taught me how to be one, too, which makes it so fun to travel and enjoy all the different places.”

Kidman is certainly an expert, her destinations so far this year including Chile and Antarctica for fun, Paris Fashion Week for Chanel's runway show, New York to promote her latest series Scarpetta, Hollywood to present at the Oscars and Las Vegas, where she and Sandra Bullock bewitched CinemaCon attendees with a sneak peek at Practical Magic 2.

And then it was back to New York to co-chair the Met Gala, where Sunday Rose got to defy the 18-and-over-only age restriction because she was accompanied by a responsible adult.

Abiding by the "Fashion Is Art" dress code, Mom wore Chanel—choosing red as a "strong symbol for love, for passionate love, vitality, for power, and motherhood," she explained—her daughter donned Dior, and all was right with the world on the first Monday in May.

The Australian actress was admittedly "quiet" last year, due to "other things going on," Kidman told Variety, but "now I’m in a place of saying, '2026. Here we go.'"

"I rally against limitations," the 59-year-old continued. "I can explore all these things [through acting roles]—and I’m like that in my personal life. This year and my next few years are for the adventures. I’m at a certain time in my life. I’m going to do the things I’ve always dreamt of doing that are not anything to do with work."

Aside from teasing upcoming family trips to the Galåpagos Islands and Peru to hike Machu Picchu, she makes regular jaunts to Sydney to visit her sister Antonia Kidman. And the Hours star recently shared that she's trying to get certified as a death doula, remembering "how there was only so much the family could provide" when her mother Janelle Ann Kidman died in September 2024.

"So that's part of my expansion," she said during an April 11 talk at the University of San Francisco for the school's Silk Speaker Series, "and something I'll be learning."

Noting a week later that people seemed either "confused or intrigued" by that revelation, she said the training had been "really fascinating" so far.

"It’s very beautiful, and you have to be a certain personality to be able to do it," Kidman told an audience April 18 at Philadelphia's Marian Anderson Hall at the Kimmel Center. "But I found out that I’m actually that personality."

However, that doesn't mean she'll be changing careers anytime soon.

Though she considered retiring from acting when she first moved to Nashville—her mom encouraged her to not "completely give up"—she soon realized that was not in her DNA. In fact, that was around the time she started producing, as well.

"I’m a worker bee," the actress, who's enjoyed a 40-year run as a movie and prestige-TV star, explained. "I love to be in the world working, and I love to provide work if I can for others, and I love to do the work.”

The Nine Perfect Strangers alum also made a rare reference to her split from Urban when she talked about exploring the U.S., sharing, “I love that I’ve seen it in a very specific way. I’ve seen all elements of it filming in different states, living in California, but also my ex-husband traveled on a tour bus all over America. It’s actually extraordinary because of the people."

But when she's not working, it's her daughters who make her world go round.

For instance, while she'd love to return to the stage at some point, especially off-Broadway or doing regional theater, "now is not the time" for that sort of time-consuming commitment. As she told Variety, "I’ve got to take care of these kids. That’s sort of in my 'Future' folder. I’ve got to fill this summer with kid stuff."

And while you mark the Sept. 11 release of Practical Magic 2 on your calendar—"I’ll be in full witch mode," she promised—see how Kidman has transformed onscreen through the years:

Nicole Kidman made her onscreen debut in 1983, but it was her breakout role alongside Sam Neill and Billy Zane in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm that really put her on the map.

In 1990, Kidman starred as Tom Cruise's love interest in this high-octane drama, and the pair married later that year.

The power couple teamed up again for director Ron Howard's epic romance, playing Irish immigrants hoping to claim land in 1890s America.

The Aussie actress earned her first Golden Globe for this critically-acclaimed satirical comedy about an ambitious TV reporter. 

In 1995, she starred in her first superhero movie, playing Dr. Chase Meridian opposite Val Kilmer's Batman.

In this beloved 1998 comedy, Kidman joined forces with Sandra Bullock to play witchy sisters Sally and Gilly Owens.

Before their divorce in 2001, Kidman and Cruise appeared onscreen together one last time in Stanley Kubrick's erotic drama.

In 2001, she picked up her first Oscar nomination for her role as Satine in the dazzling hit musical.

Switching gears once again, Kidman delivered a spooky turn and a twist ending in this supernatural horror.

Kidman scored her first Oscar win in 2002, playing the writer Virginia Woolf.

While Bewitched didn't cast a spell at the 2005 box office, Kidman was widely praised for her comedic turn a opposite Will Ferrell.

In 2007, she stole the show as the wicked Mrs. Coulter in this fantasy adventure film based on the books by Philip Pullman.

The actress earned her third Oscar nomination for this 2010 drama, starring alongside Aaron Eckhart as a couple dealing with the aftermath of their child’s death.

It was back to villain mode in 2014, playing an evil taxidermist who was trying to stuff poor Paddington and display him in the Natural History Museum.

Kidman starred as adoptive mother Sue Brierley in this heartwarming true story that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2017, she joined Colin Farrell and Barry Keoghan in this critically-acclaimed and very creepy psychological thriller by director Yorgos Lanthimos.

She dove back into the superhero realm in 2018 by playing Atlanna, the mother to Jason Momoa's Aquaman.

Kidman joined the all-star cast of Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, and Laura Dern in HBO's hugely popular limited series, earning herself an Emmy and a Golden Globe along the way.

She portrayed Gretchen Carlson in this 2019 drama about the downfall of Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.

She teamed up with Hugh Grant to star in this psychological drama, which ended up being HBO's most-watched show of 2020.

She created one of the pop culture moments of 2021 by declaring, "heartbreak feels good in a place likĐ” this" for AMC.

Kidman's hotstreak on TV continued into 2021 with her role as the mysterious host of a wellness resort in this Hulu drama series.

In 2022, the actress racked up her fifth Oscar nomination playing Lucille Ball opposite Javier Bardem's Desi Arnaz.

Kidman added another Golden Globe nomination to her name for her raw turn as an executive who relishes being submissive for a change when she enters into an affair with a much younger intern, played by Harris Dickinson.

Another gorgeous house, another picture-perfect setting, another murder.

Only this time it was all set in this Netflix drama, based on a 2018 book by Elin Hildebrand, with Kidman playing renowned novelist Greer Garrison Winbury.

Also in 2024, she joined the ensemble cast of Amazon Prime's new series, about the lives of expatriates living in Hong Kong.

Kidman gets her postmortem on playing pathologist and frequent murder solver Dr. Kay Scarpetta in this 2026 Prime Video series based on the character created by author Patricia Cornwell.

(Originally published April 21, 2026, at 5:04 p.m. PT)