Nicole Kidman is "the caretaker" in her family.
Nicole Kidman
The 'Lion' star - who has Isabella, 23, and Connor, 21, with her ex-husband Tom Cruise and Faith, five, and Sunday, eight, with her spouse Keith Urban - considers it an "inherent part of her" to be like a mother to those around her.
She said: "I still have a very strong relationship with them. I feel maternal to most people. In my family, I'm very much the caretaker. My husband always says, 'You can't save the world, Nicole,' but I think it's just an inherent part of me.
"The love is abundant, and it doesn't just evaporate or disappear - it's just there, and it is a bottomless well. It will always be there, which is a beautiful thing to say to a child, 'You'll never be abandoned. The love will always be there for you.' It's an important thing to hear that as a child. I beyond need it. Yes, I still need the acknowledgment."
And the 49-year-old actress believes love for a child is the "most intense, profound, deeply felt thing" anyone could feel.
She added to New York Magazine: "The love for a child is the most intense, profound, deeply felt thing that will ever transpire through your body to another human being. It's cataclysmic. It changes you. The sensations and the power of it. I mean, you see cars are lifted."
Meanwhile, Nicole previously opened up about how she had to learn to take a step back when her husband fought through an alcohol addiction.
She said: "[I'd advise them] to get help. To put your hand up, to reach out. There is absolutely help out there. You can't save somebody, they've got to save themselves.
"It is a very big thing for people like me who go, 'I can take care of you. I can do it.' At some point, you just have to say, 'I love you and I'm here when you decide to do the work. If you don't, then that's it.' It's not easy, but there's an extraordinary life if you do get there through help."
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