Nicole Kidman talks about her new series, ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’

What is the weirdest thing she has ever done as a wellness experiment?

During a Zoom call from her Nashville home, Nicole Kidman’s face flames as red as her hair when she thinks about it. “My boyfriend at the time got me to go into one of those water tanks with him,” said the Aussie Oscar winner. “You lay in this steel tank, and I was excited because everyone told me it was an amazing thing.”

Turns out everyone was wrong.

“I got in the tank. It was freezing cold, and I had to stay in there for two hours,” Kidman recalls. “I hate being cold. Cold for me is absolutely torture. So I was banging on the walls, but they still wouldn’t let me out. I had to lay in dirty salt water for two hours for my own wellness.”

The characters who gather at her wellness retreat in Hulu’s new “Nine Perfect Strangers” don’t really have it much easier. In the limited series, debuting August 18, and based on the New York Times best-selling book by Liane Moriarty, Kidman plays Russian Dr. Marsha, who invites a diverse group to her 10-day retreat designed to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies. These nine strangers have no idea what’s in store for them. The cast includes Melissa McCarthy, Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall and Michael Shannon.

Kidman finds her own wellness retreat is living in Nashville with husband Keith Urban and their daughters, Sunday, 13 and Hope, 10.

What is the perfect Sunday when you’re home in Nashville?

I’m so happily boring! A good Sunday is one where the entire family is together at home. I’m lucky I fell in love with a guy who lived in Nashville because it’s one of the best places on Earth. Sunday is about having a very normal and peaceful day. We ride bikes, take walks, cook and play with our dog. We’re part of the community, too, which is very protective. It’s wonderful because I crave simplicity. A good Sunday is one where we’re together. Keith would say the same thing.

Let’s shift to your new Hulu mini-series. What was the appeal of “Nine Perfect Strangers?

I loved this show because it was so trippy. So, so crazy. When people say to define it, I still can’t even tell you what genre it fits into. I have no idea, which is a great joy to me. You have to experience it to try to figure it out.

Describe filming in your native Australia?

Well, I can tell you that the birds are very loud in Australia. When the director would call out “action,” those same birds would get louder, as if we were asking them to join the scene. And all of a sudden you would look up and see a koala in the trees. Otherwise, Byron Bay was extraordinary and magical. The environment also really helped us because walking around, you didn’t have to pretend to be at a luxury resort in the middle of nowhere. You were in this lavish place. I’m a huge believer in using what you have to penetrate a performance. There was nature all around us. It was real. And I was lucky to exist in this dream-like state for six months.

And you were able to film in 2020 during the pandemic because the resort was shut down.

Because of the pandemic, we were able to film in an empty place. The cast and crew arrived from different countries and quarantined immediately after we arrived. We were able to work and I was quite grateful.

Is it true that you were your character Marsha to the cast and crew and not Nicole?

The first time I met everyone, I walked in as Marsha. I never related to anybody in any other way. I only related to them as Marsha. The first scene we shot was when I said, “I’m Marsha. Welcome to Tranquil.” For me, it was important that I stay in that place. I wanted a very calm, healing energy to emanate from me. I remember going over to the other actors and holding their hands and putting those hands on my heart. But only as Marsha.

What happened if someone called you Nicole?

If they called me Nicole, I’d completely ignore it. I’d only respond to Marsha. At the end of the shoot, the cast came to me and said they had never heard my Australian accent because Marsha speaks with a Russian one. That was good news because I didn’t want to do a performance. I wanted Marsha to feel natural. Still, it was a weird place to exist for several months. After we wrapped, I walked around saying, “Hi, I’m Nicole.” … Yes, it sounds crazy! I know!

You had successes with HBO’s “Big Little Lies” and “The Undoing.” Now comes “Nine Perfect Strangers.” What is the appeal of these long-run stories on premium television vs. doing another film?

I see these longer stories as an extension of film. It’s just a bigger version. Bottom line is, it’s all storytelling. I’ve been lucky to do shows that have the same director for all of the episodes, which is nice and also makes it feel like a feature film. Also, I started out in Australia doing mini-series and a couple of small films. I’ve always embraced TV as a fantastic landscape. What’s wonderful is you have great directors who have always done TV. Bergman did “Scenes from a Marriage” on TV, for example. TV is possible in a very huge way for all of us now in the acting community, and it’s exciting because the writing is often fantastic.

How do you keep it interesting for all the episodes?

You have to be rigorous about it. (Director) Jane Campion is my friend, and we went for a walk one day. She said, “It’s incredibly hard to keep a storyline alive for six episodes.” People forget that it’s so difficult to maintain that level of interest. When you do, it’s a victory.

How do you and Keith balance work with marriage and kids?

We look for our time together. We ask ourselves with each project, “Okay what do we get out of this before we commit to a project?” And we like to be together. During COVID times at home, he did mini concerts, and I was happy to be his groupie or backup singer. I’m so lucky. He’s such a wonderful man. My girls have a wonderful father. I like to say it because I’m so happy.