Nicole Kidman can't say no

9 June 2019

Nicole Kidman struggles to say no to people.

Nicole Kidman

The 51-year-old actress has said she has a hard time "balancing" her hectic life, because she always likes to agree to other people's demands and put herself last, which often results in her "collapsing" from the pressure.

She said: "I wrestle with things. I'm not just like, 'Oh, everything is perfect.' I wrestle and question and that's just the nature of probably digging in and delving into things as well.

"The hardest part is balancing, giving and going, 'OK, yes, I can do that and I can do that, and I'll show up for that and I hate to let you down and...' And that's really hard right now because there are so many people wanting things. It does come back to responsibility to myself, which I usually put last. Because I'm quite capable of, you know, pushing through, until I collapse."

And when things do get too much, the 'Big Little Lies' star usually ends up getting sick, which then hinders her productivity because she can't get out of bed.

When asked what happens when things stack up, she said: "I get sick. I get overwrought and sick. And then you can't do anything. You've got the flu, you're in bed, and then everything falls apart."

Nicole credits her husband Keith Urban - with whom she has daughters Sunday, 10, and Faith, eight - with being able to spot the signs of the star having too much to do at once, but admits she doesn't always listen to him.

She added to the Mail on Sunday newspaper's You magazine: "Keith is very chilled. So yes, but you know, as any woman would say, he can tell me: 'Listen baby, why not pull back on that?' And I'll kind of nod and listen and then I won't necessarily do what he says.

"Probably a lot of men have this; they're far better at just going, 'Mmm, that's enough now.' You know, being able to compartmentalise and sleep - 'No, not going to worry about that now, just going to sleep, deal with that later.' Fantastic attribute, wish I had it. That's what I mean by having a partner that's really good."