Inside Nicole Kidman’s strained relationship with her adopted children

Nicole Kidman is often pictured with her daughters Sunday Rose Urban, 14, and Faith Urban, 12, — she even scored the couple roles on her hit shows Big Little Lies and The Undoing.

But less is known about her relationship with her children from her marriage to Tom Cruise.

The Australian actress, 55, shares Connor, 28, and Bella, 30, with her ex-husband, and the pair adopted them in the early 1990s.

During their relationship, the family was often pictured together, but after her divorce from the Top Gun star in 2001, the pair reportedly remained ‘loyal to their father’ and decided to live with him – meaning they grew up in the controversial Church of Scientology.

The Big Little Lies star has refused to talk about religion or her family ties in recent years and she is said to have been absent from many of her children’s life events, including Bella’s wedding at London’s Dorchester hotel in September 2015, despite her life . in the city and at the same time starring in the West End.

Nicole hasn’t been photographed in public with her eldest two children since 2007, and was reportedly “devastated” after the pair failed to attend her father’s funeral in 2014.

She is now reportedly hoping the pair will be in attendance when she receives the Life Achievement Award at the American Film Institute (AFI) ceremony this summer.

Touted by the institute as “America’s highest honor for a film career,” Nicole will be the first Australian actor to receive the award.

“Nicole knows that Connor is extremely loyal to his father, so she doesn’t expect him to come, but the invitation is out for both of them,” an alleged source told Australia’s New Idea.

“It’s an event they rightfully celebrate with the rest of Nicole’s family,” they continued.

“Nicole tries to limit her expectations, but clings to the hope that Bella will make it.”

In 2018, the Nine Perfect Strangers star thanked her biological daughters and second husband Keith Urban when accepting her Golden Globe for Best Actress — but didn’t mention Connor or Bella.

The actress rarely speaks about the couple, saying she wants to keep the relationship private, but has spoken about how they “picked on Scientology” and “don’t call her mom.”

Speaking of her desire to keep her children’s lives private in November 2018, Nicole explained, “I have to protect those relationships.

“I know 150 percent that I would give my life for my children because that is my goal.

“They’re adults. They are able to make their own decisions. They made choices to be Scientologists and as a mother it is my job to love them.”

Scientology appears to be at the root of much of the family’s division, with Tom reportedly banning Nicole from Connor’s 2019 wedding to another senior Scientologist.

“Tom is behind this and what he wants is as good as the law,” a source told RadarOnline.com at the time. “Tom called and Connor followed.”

Connor, a former DJ who is now deep-sea fishing, “worships the ground his father walks on,” the source added, claiming he would never disobey the actor.

In 2010, Nicole said she wished her children lived with her.

In 2007, Nicole said her adopted children stopped even calling her “mom,” sparking rumors that their relationship was strained.

“My kids don’t call me mommy, they don’t even call me mommy. They call me Nicole, which I hate and call them names for it,” she said.

Those rumors were further fueled three years later, when she spoke publicly about the kids—both of whom are dedicated Scientologists along with their father—who chose to live with Cruise.

Kidman has previously insisted that she keep in touch with Connor and Bella, despite their choosing to live with Cruise when they broke up.

“They live with Tom, which was their choice,” she said.

“I’d like them to come and live with us, but what can you do?”

She added to E! News: ‘Everyone has their own path and when they find their path it is a relief as a parent.’

The last time she was photographed in public with Connor was at the annual Kids’ Choice Awards in Los Angeles in 2007, when he was just 13.

However, the family denies that there is a rift.

In 2014, she told Woman’s Weekly that “they’re generous, kind and hardworking. And these are qualities I like to see in my children.’

She also described her film Lion – in which she plays an adoptive mother – as a ‘love letter’ to her children at the time.

In the same year, Connor also said, “I don’t care what people say. I know me and mom are solid. I love her a lot. My family means everything,” he said.

Speaking to MailOnline in 2016, Bella said, “Of course [we talk]”They’re my parents,” she says. “Anyone who claims otherwise is full of shit.

In 2012, she told New Idea, “I love Mom. [Nicole’s] my mother. She is amazing. I see her sometimes and I talk to her,” adding, “we’re a close family. I love our whole family.’

Meanwhile, Nicole is rumored to blame Scientology for ruining her marriage and separating her from Connor and Bella.

In her book Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, ex-Scientology member Leah Remini claimed that Nicole was labeled an “oppressive person” or “SP” by the church after she left.

The Insider reportedly told Radar, “First, Tom would never consider inviting Nicole to Connor’s wedding because she’s considered an ‘oppressive person’ by the church — and second, he doesn’t want her there.”

They added that the Mission Impossible star turned her back on Nicole “a long time ago” and has never looked back.