Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's surprising parenting rules for private life with daughters Sunday an

May 2024 · 4 minute read

The Big Little Lies actress and the singer live in Australia with their two children

Despite Nicole Kidman and her husband Keith Urban's fame, they have tried to maintain their children Sunday and Faith's privacy as much as possible.

Nicole gave birth to Sunday in July 2008 and then had Faith via surrogate in 2010. Since then, she has tried to keep them off social media and given them a normal upbringing away from the cameras, visiting close family members in Australia and attending church. 

WATCH: Keith Urban jokes about his daughters' real thoughts on his career

However, they have taken after their famous parents to an extent – not only do they often travel with Nicole during filming commitments, but they have also dabbled in acting, too.

Take a look inside how the Big Little Lies star– who also shares children Bella and Connor with ex-husband Tom Cruise – and the Blue Ain't Your Colour singer are raising their daughters.

Church trips

While her eldest children have followed in Tom's Scientology footsteps, Nicole and Keith's kids have had a Catholic upbringing and regularly attend church together.

"A lot of my friends tease me," Nicole told Vanity Fair. "That’s how we are raising our children. Keith has his own beliefs but he comes, too. I had a very Catholic grandmother, and I was raised praying, so that had a massive impact.

"I wouldn’t say it’s absolutism, there’s constant questioning – I’m a willful, feisty girl. For me, it’s very important that I don’t have judgment. My dad would always say, ‘Tolerance is the most important thing.'"

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Travelling as a family

The couple used to split their time between their homes in America and Australia, but that wasn't the only travelling on their calendar.

Chatting to Entertainment Tonight, Nicole revealed that her supportive family "travel as a little group, where, always, we share pretty much everything" while she works.

The Nine Perfect Strangers star also admitted that she and Keith make sure one of them is always at home. "We never leave the kids, one of us is always there," she explained.

If the parents can't coordinate their schedules, they have help from her sister Antonia and mum Janelle. "When Keith went to Nashville and I had to work late nights, I rang Ant and asked her to move in with the girls and she did, and brought along her kids.

"That's special. It's the nature of what we're all having to do now – you get to be commune-like; this extended family where you're all raising each other's kids together."

However, Nicole said that she does find it hard to "sacrifice" time with her daughters for her acting career. Sharing a rare insight into her youngest daughters' upbringing, she told the New York Times: "[You have to] understand the sacrifice in regard to the people you love, and what you're asking them to go through."

Nicole also revealed what she tells her daughters ahead of her travelling for filming. "Mum is gonna go now, and mum is going to go through this, and I need to you know it doesn't diminish any of my love for you. But this is deeply needed in my life and my creative path is deep but it doesn't diminish anything that I have for you," she explained.

Acting

Sunday and Faith have already appeared as extras in The Undoing and Big Little Lies.

Nicole revealed to You magazine it was a bonding experience for them. "They're not coddles on the set. And that's good for them. It's given them a stronger understanding of what I do; it's made us all closer," she said.

The actress also said that her eldest daughter Sunday, 15, wants to become a film director, joking to DuJour: "Through nothing I’ve done, though. She’s learned to edit, and if I even offer to be in one of her films, the sense is I’m not getting anywhere near them."

Her most recent project was directing a stage production of Annie, which she wanted to do without too much fuss and public support from her mother.

"All I wanted to do was whoop and holler. But I'm kept on a tight lock and key. I just want to go, 'You’re amazing.' But I'm not allowed to call out the window of the car or even compliment too much," she added.

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