Tearful Nicole Kidman reveals her fears as an an older mother

Nicole Kidman has revealed she is terrified of not being there for her children. Photo / Sunday Profile

Aussie actress Nicole Kidman gets emotional in a new television interview, talking about her biggest fears as an "older mother".

The Lion star, who turns 50 next year, has two young daughters with husband Keith Urban.

Speaking to CBS News, she admitted that having two children under the age of 10 later in life was sometimes a cause for concern.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban arrive with daughters Faith Urban and Sunday Rose Urban. Photo / Getty Images

"I would just like to - and it makes me sad - I would just like to be here long enough to have my children grow up and for me to see them thriving. Right? So that's all I ask. And that my husband and I are with each other. Simple! Simple requests," she told CBS reporter Tracy Smith, tears welling in her eyes.

"Why does just the idea of the kids getting older, why does it get to you?" Smith asked.

"Just wanting to be here. I'm an older mother, so, you know..."

"It's that prayer of, 'Gosh, let me be here?'" Smith asked.

"Oh, please. Yeah. Please. Please. But, hey, what will be will be."

Kidman and Urban, who celebrated their 10-year wedding anniversary this year, had daughter Sunday Rose in 2008, followed by Faith Margaret - born via "gestational carrier" - two years later.

Showing CBS News around her Nashville neighbourhood, Sydney-raised Kidman said her two little girls were true Southerners - they even say "y'all".

Kidman's fears about leaving her two young children behind come in the wake of her father's death in 2014. Respected psychologist and academic Tony Kidman died of a heart attack aged 75.

"When my father passed away, I literally was down saying, 'Please, give me the strength just to be able to wake up tomorrow'. Because I was shattered beyond belief at that. I didn't even know how to get up from this."

She credits Urban's love with helping her to process her grief.

"Because I had a husband that came right back. I called him screaming and crying. And he was about to go on stage. And he walked off stage and he got on a plane - he had just gotten there," she said.

"He flew six hours and he was right back there. And he literally picked me up and pretty much carried me through the next two weeks. And I also had, you know, my children going, 'It's gonna be all right, Momma'."