Nicole Kidman Says She Is Training to Become a Death Doula

Nicole Kidman revealed she is training to become a death doula — a non-medical companion who provides emotional, spiritual, and practical support to terminally ill people and their families — a decision the actress made following her mother’s death.

“As my mother was passing, she was lonely, and there was only so much the family could provide,” Kidman told her audience during a talk at the University of San Francisco on Saturday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Dogville star acknowledged that the concept of a death doula “sounds a little weird,” but she explained that her desire to become one is derived from the profound grief she experienced since her mother’s death in 2024.

“Between my sister and I, we have so many children and our careers and our work, and wanting to take care of her because my father wasn’t in the world anymore, and that’s when I went, ‘I wish there was these people in the world that were there to sit impartially and just provide solace and care,’” the 58-year-old continued.

“So that’s part of my expansion and one of the things I will be learning,” the Moulin Rouge! star added.

Kidman reportedly announced her new career path while speaking at a sold-out event at War Memorial Gym, an athletic venue on the University of San Francisco campus, as part of the school’s Silk Speaker Series.

A death doula is an “end‑of‑life” and non-medical companion “who provides personalized and compassionate support to individuals, families, and their circles of care as they encounter and navigate death, loss, and mortality,” according to the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA).

“An end-of-life doula advocates self-determination and imparts psychosocial, emotional, spiritual, and practical care to empower dignity throughout the dying process,” the INELDA adds.

Kidman is not the only Hollywood figure to turn their focus to becoming a death doula.

Earlier this year, filmmaker Chloé Zhao — the director of Hamnet — told the New York Times that she is interested in becoming a death doula “Because I have been terrified of death my whole life. I still am. And because I’ve been so afraid I haven’t been able to live fully.”

Zhao explained that “when you’re in your 40s, a midlife crisis is the best thing that can happen to you, because you’re on your way to a rebirth. You can’t run from this feeling. Your body is changing, and you can feel death.”

“And because I’m so scared of it, I have no choice but to start to develop a healthier relationship with it, or the second half of life would be too hard,” she added. “It shouldn’t be this terrifying that I can’t even live.”

Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

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