Nicole Kidman was very ”maternal” to Dev Patel on the set of ‘Lion’.
The 49-year-old actress – who played the adoptive mother of Dev’s character in the drama film – admits she related to her co-star as if she was a maternal figure to him and is looking forward to see where his career takes him in the future.
Speaking to GoldDerby, she said: ”I was maternal to him. I was pretty much in character playing the role … I really just related to him as a mother. I would go up to him and stroke his hair and touch his face and hold his hand. He gave permission for that, which was terrific …
”I also think now you’ll see Dev as a leading man, not as an Indian man or anything other than a leading man. I look forward to his journey into all of that now.”
It comes after Nicole – who has Isabella, 24, and Connor, 21, with her ex-husband Tom Cruise and Faith, six, and Sunday, eight, with her spouse Keith Urban – previously admitted she is ”the caretaker” in her family.
She shared: ”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.”
