Nicole Kidman is not only one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors but also one of its most bankable.
From movie classics like Moulin Rouge! and The Hours to TV dramas such as Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, the 58-year-old Australian acting legend — who recently filed for divorce from her husband Keith Urban — has commanded viewers’ screens for decades.
For years, Kidman has been a mainstay on Forbes magazine’s list of the highest-paid female actors. In 2024, she finally reached the top, with an estimated eye-watering income of $31 million ($41 million gross).
While there is no exact figure on Kidman’s total net worth, The Independent examines her life and career to show how she became one of the most financially successful female actors ever.
Acting career
Kidman made her film debut at the age of 16 in the 1983 Australian movie Bush Christmas. Within a few years, she landed her breakout role in the 1989 psychological thriller Dead Calm, which earned her international recognition. The following year, she made her American film debut alongside Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder.
Since then, she’s starred in nearly 100 movies and TV shows, and has received numerous accolades, including five acting Oscar nominations, one of which she won for her performance in The Hours. She’s also received three Emmy nominations, of which she’s won two for her work on HBO’s drama Big Little Lies.
She ranked seventh on Forbes’s list of “The Highest-Paid Actresses 2020,” with a reported salary of $22 million. According to the outlet, she was paid an eight-figure upfront salary for her featured role in Ryan Murphy’s 2020 Netflix musical comedy, The Prom. Meanwhile, she reportedly earned $1 million per episode for HBO’s six-episode miniseries The Undoing.
Not even five years later, the magazine named her the highest-paid female actor of 2024. Last year was one of her busiest professionally, a workload that translated into an estimated $31 million salary ($41 million gross). She starred in six projects, including the age-gap films Babygirl and The Family Affair, and appeared in three TV miniseries — Expats, The Perfect Couple, and Lioness — earning more than $1 million per episode for each, according to Forbes.
Production company and brand partnerships
In 2010, Kidman founded her own production company, Blossom Films, dedicated to “supporting artists and exploring new perspectives,” according to the website. There’s no public information on how much she earns through her production work, but the company has worked on several of the TV shows she’s led.
Beyond acting and producing, she’s worked with a limited number of brands. Following the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, Kidman signed a one-year contract with AMC Theatres, perhaps her biggest partnership to date. Although it’s unclear how much Kidman earned from her now-viral clip proclaiming, “AMC Theatres. We Make Movies Better,” it was part of the company’s $25 million advertising campaign to try and get moviegoers back to the theaters.
Earlier this week, she was announced as the Global Brand Ambassador for the Japanese luxury beauty brand Clé de Peau Beauté. Again, Kidman’s compensation for the partnership is undisclosed.
Personal life and properties
Before her nearly 20-year marriage to Urban, Kidman was married to Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001. The two adopted two children, daughter Isabella and son Connor. While the terms of their divorce remained confidential, Reuters reported in 2008 that they split an estimated $350 million fortune, with Kidman supposedly receiving $4.3 million, their five-bedroom mansion in the affluent Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles, and a house in Sydney, Australia.
Kidman and the country singer-songwriter Urban tied the knot in 2006. It didn’t take long for the couple, who welcomed daughters Sunday and Faith in 2008 and 2010, respectively, to start growing a real estate empire.
The couple purchased their first home together as newlyweds in 2007, paying $2.45 million for a sprawling 36-acre property in Franklin, Tennessee. They eventually sold it for $2.7 million in 2018, according to Architectural Digest.
In 2008, they bought their second Nashville property — a $3.47 million, seven-bedroom mansion that served as their primary residence for much of their marriage.
They’ve also acquired — and still own — at least five additional properties. These include a $4.7 million, five-bedroom home in Beverly Hills; a $6.5 million, 110-acre farm in New South Wales; a $10 million luxury apartment in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood; a $3.5 million two-bedroom unit in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood; and several multimillion-dollar units in a modern Sydney apartment building, including two penthouses.
Separately, Urban has built a successful music career, which has been the primary source of his more modest fortune. The 57-year-old “Blue Ain’t Your Color” singer has released a total of 13 studio albums. In 2022, he sold his master recordings to Litmus Music for an undisclosed figure. He also served as a judge on American Idol from seasons 12 (2013) through 15 (2016), for which he was reportedly paid $8 million per season.
Now that Kidman has officially filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences, it’s unknown how they plan on splitting the fortune.
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