Actress Nicole Kidman, left, smiles after kissing the character Paddington as she arrives for the Australian premiere of her movie ” Paddington ” in Sydney, Sunday.

SYDNEY: Nicole Kidman has said that 2014 has been a really hard year.

Speaking at the Australian premiere of Paddington in Sydney, the actor said it felt good to close out the year with a film that makes people smile, following the grief of losing her father, Australian clinical psychologist Antony Kidman, to a heart attack in August.

“Personally [it’s been] really really really hard,” she told Guardian Australia. “My family underwent a massive tragedy. So not my favorite year. But I try not to be ungrateful – I’m grateful to be alive.”

It has been a mixed year for Kidman on screen, too, with Oliver Dahan’s biopic Grace of Monaco critically panned in February, but Paddington topping the UK box office after universally warm reviews. The film is released in Australia on Dec.11 and in January in the US.

“My whole career is always a roller-coaster,” she said on the red carpet.

 
[wpResize]