Nicole Kidman delivered an emotional eulogy remembering her late father Antony on Friday, Sept. 19, at his funeral in Sydney, Australia.
Kidman, 47, recalled distinct moments in life when her father’s presence was most comforting, including her painful 2001 divorce from ex-husband Tom Cruise. The Daily Mail, Sydney Morning Herald, and other Australian outlets reported that the Oscar-winning actress — affectionately referred to as “Niccy” by her father — remembered when Antony got “on a plane hours after I got divorced.”
Kidman and Cruise were married from 1990 to 2001, and in the years following their split, the actress has opened up about her emotional struggle. She told Marie Claire in 2011, “I was really damaged and not sure whether [love and marriage] was ever going to happen again to me.”
The Australian actress told funeral-goers on Friday the advice her father gave her during that tumultuous time period. Antony said, “‘Nic, it’s going to be okay. It isn’t what it could’ve been, it isn’t what it should have been, it is what it is.'”
Kidman said she would also buy her father expensive shirts, but labels meant nothing to the late clinical psychologist. “He is the reason I can’t walk past someone on the street with their hands out without giving,” Kidman told her fellow grievers.
She revealed that her final face-to-face moment with her dad was during his visit to New York three weeks before his death. One night, Kidman came home and discovered that he had eaten all of the pizza they were going to share for dinner. “I am so grateful he came to New York,” she said of her dad’s last visit. “And I’m so glad he ate all that pizza.”
Dr. Antony Kidman died unexpectedly on Friday, Sept. 12, after collapsing in a Singapore hotel during a trip to see his youngest daughter Antonia. An insider close to Nicole told Us Weekly that the actress was “beside herself” and “beyond devastated” after learning of his death. “Keith [Urban] vowed to be with her as long as he needs to during this horrible time and he is supporting his wife to the fullest,” the source added.
Indeed, Urban was right beside his wife at his father-in-law’s funeral on Friday. According to the papers, the country megastar, 46, and Kidman performed “Amazing Grace” after her eulogy. The couple’s two young daughters, Sunday and Faith, joined their parents at their grandfather’s funeral, along with stars like Russell Crowe and his estranged wife Danielle Spencer.
