Adoption experience helped Nicole Kidman with emotional Lion role

Nicole Kidman’s experiences as an adoptive mother helped her prepare for new movie Lion.
The movie chronicles the real-life story of an Australian couple adopting five-year-old Saroo Brierley after he is separated from his family in India, and Nicole feels the tale highlights that love for a child is the same – whether they are biological or adopted.
“It takes a village to raise children,” Nicole, who is mum to adopted daughter Bella, 23, and son Connor, 21, with ex-husband Tom Cruise, said as Lion premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend (10-11Sep16).
“The power of good love, there’s nothing like it, and where it comes from and how you get it. But the nurturing quality of good love is extraordinary. The power of somebody wanting to find home, I think, is just a wonderful, cinematic story.”
Starring in a movie that is so “powerful and true” was a unique experience for Nicole, who used her own experiences to relate to her role as Saroo’s adoptive mother.
“For me, this is a film about the power of mothers, whichever form they come in, whether biological or adoptive,” Nicole, who is also mum to daughters Sunday Rose, eight, and five-year-old Faith, told The Hollywood Reporter. “When you have good love like that, you flourish. However it comes your way, it comes. So it’s obviously emotional for me.”
Dev Patel, who plays Saroo in the film, was present as the movie premiered at TIFF to acclaim from the critics.
The 26-year-old British actor first found fame at the festival many years ago, and still has a soft spot in his heart for the industry event.
“My life changed here with Slumdog Millionaire,” Dev told Entertainment Tonight Canada. “Now it’s just so many years later and things have changed. There’s such a positivity here in Toronto. I love it. It brings back so many good memories.”