Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s eldest daughter Sunday may be growing up, but that still doesn’t mean the Big Little Lies star is ready for the 16-year-old to watch some of her old movies. The Australian actress opened up about a recent awkward experience when Sunday accidentally saw a clip from Kidman’s risqué ‘90s flick Eyes Wide Shut, and we feel for her!
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kidman said she would “definitely not” watch the thriller with Sunday or her 13-year-old daughter Faith. “At the AFI [Life Achievement Award] tribute, they saw the scene where I get stoned. They showed that and I was like, ‘Ooooh. Golly. OK.’ I sat next to my daughter, Sunday, watching that,” she continued.
Women are constantly walking the tightrope between being moms and being humans. We read bedtime stories with our kids one minute, then get it on with our partner an hour later. We read about serial killers while waiting for our kids to get out of karate class, and we constantly try to balance our desires with our family’s interests. And when we finally get used to keeping all these different aspects of ourselves in their own little boxes, our kids grow up — and nothing can prepare you for when they start seeing you as a well-rounded person instead of just “mom.” Luckily for Kidman, Sunday was very sweet about the whole thing.
Kidman, who co-starred in the film with ex Tom Cruise, revealed exactly what her daughter thought of it: “She said, ‘Mom, that was good.’” Aww! Despite Kidman’s misgivings about letting her teen see part of that film (if you’ve seen it, then you know how awkward that would be!), Sunday was super supportive.
During the AFI ceremony, they also showed a scene from Kidman’s 2004 film Birth, and Sunday commented, “That was really good.” Kidman added, “And I watched that scene and thought, ‘Wow. That was really good.’ And I never do that.
“People watching their own films feels slightly odd to me,” Kidman said. “I’m OK celebrating directors because it’s their work. But my own little part of it, it’s like [groans]. But if you’re a director, it’s lovely to hear that you’re proud of it. So I’m very, very proud of it. I say that to you, Stanley [Kubrick, director of Eyes Wide Shut who died in 1999] up there, if you’re listening to me. He knows that anyway.”
In an interview with PEOPLE last month, the A Family Affair star said that while her teens are proud of their mom, they also keep her humble. “They’re very supportive, but they’re also like, ‘Okay, calm down,’” she said. “But I do think it’s important not to have sycophants [around you]. And it’s not also seeking out really horrible criticism … We’re all a work in progress, as they say.”
She told Sunrise in January that her teens watched her 1984 movie BMX Bandits and “loved it,” but overall, aren’t huge fans of her films and TV series. “They aren’t that interested in my work,” Kidman said. “It’s kind of great — I don’t have to worry about that — in the sense they have very full lives themselves and I just get out of the way.”
Teaching your teens to have full lives outside of just being someone’s daughter or son is another task that can be hard as moms, but it seems like Kidman is leading by example. And she’s doing a fabulous job!
These celebrity kids are giving their parents a humbling reality check by having zero interest in their movies.
