A body language expert has revealed the differences between Nicole Kidman’s divorce from Tom Cruise back in 2001 to her split from her husband, Keith Urban, noting ‘disbelief’ versus ‘relief’
When Nicole Kidman finalised her divorce from Tom Cruise in 2001, she was pictured jumping for joy as she left her lawyer’s office.
Fast forward to 2025, and she cut a different figure as she broke cover following news of her divorce from Keith Urban. On Tuesday, September 30, it was revealed that Nicole, 58, had lodged divorce papers against her New Zealand country music star husband, 57, following three months of living separately. It was reported that Keith initiated their separation and quickly moved out of their Nashville home.
Sources suggest the breakdown was “inevitable”, and initially, it seemed matters would progress cordially and without conflict. Yet new claims have emerged alleging that Nicole, who shares daughters, Sunday, 15, and Faith, 13, with Keith, was ‘blindsided’ by the development.
Just a day after the breakdown of their marriage came to light, the Australian actress was photographed on a walk with her sister, Antonia, in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday. In photos obtained by Mail Online, Nicole was seen sporting grey and black active wear while donning a cap and sunglasses, as she appeared to “take control and action”, body language expert Judi James told the Mirror.
READ MORE: Nicole Kidman ‘takes strong action’ amid Keith Urban divorce as he moves onREAD MORE: Keith Urban’s ugliest Nicole Kidman moments from ‘cocaine clause to public dig’
This is vastly different to how Nicole responded to her divorce from Tom Cruise. The A-list couple had been together for 11 years, and when their divorce was finalised, the actress was captured leaping up with joy and happiness as she left her lawyer’s office.
Comparing the photograph of Nicole following her split from Keith to her divorce from Tom, Judi revealed: “Nicole’s ‘announcement’ gestures following her split from Tom Cruise looked overkill and incongruent as well as unnecessarily dramatic. With her hands splayed out in what looked like the body language of relief and celebration, the actress also flung her head back in what was possibly a rather naive attempt to look like a very happy divorcee.
“But her eyes were squeezed shut and her mouth open in what actually looked like a pain response, the kind of eye squint and open-mouthed look that could suggest agony rather than ecstasy.”
The expert added: “It made her ‘celebration’ look like a rather odd and lonely ritual, and it also perhaps lacked the kind of quiet, PR and brand-fed dignity Hollywood is normally known for.”
Examining the photograph of Nicole from her Wednesday outing with her sister, Judi noted that this time around, Nicole is ‘taking control’ of her grief, and that while she may be ‘innocent’ in all of it, she has a plan for her revenge. She shared: “Nicole’s present-day rituals after her split with Keith was announced do seem to have some fundamental similarities though. She’s made herself very visible but this time she’s looking less isolated, with her sister looking like a confidant to share her thoughts.
“What she is signalling is that there are a lot of thoughts to share, though. Instead of whooping with joy and relief, her very animated hand gestures seem to imply she’s talking through every nuance and moment of the end of her marriage with a degree of surprise or disbelief.”
Delving further, she said the actress has a plan for tackling the divorce: “The sportswear and the way she’s striding out here seems to be an important message for Nicole to suggest she’s taking control and taking action rather than sitting indoors crying over a tub of Ben and Jerry’s, though. The way she spreads her arms out here looks passably similar to her ‘celebratory’ pose post-Tom but here she’s got her hands in a palms-up reveal, suggesting she’s querying what happened and what went wrong.
“There’s a couple of self-touches of her torso or a point towards her chest that could suggest some indignant in terms of her own behaviour. The message seems to be that she is the innocent or unsuspecting partner here but that her mood is one of strength and firmness.”