How Nicole Kidman convinced Hugh Grant to act in her new TV drama The Undoing
Nicole Kidman has revealed she had to “beg” Hugh Grant to join her hotly-anticipated new TV drama. This is how she did it.
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Nicole Kidman has revealed she had to “beg” Hugh Grant not to quit acting and join the cast of her hotly-anticipated new TV drama series.
The Oscar winner told News Corp Australia she kept crossing paths with the Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral star but had to convince him he had the talent for a serious role in The Undoing, after being type cast as the foppish leading man in romantic comedies.
Kidman plays a pyschologist who discovers her marriage to Grant is not as it seemed in the series set to stream this month on BINGE.
“I’ve known him through many different stages of his life, so to finally get to work with him was really wonderful because I love his wit and his intelligence, but he’s also just a fine actor. He always says, ‘oh, I don’t like working, I don’t want to act’. He’s one of those. But then when he works, you watch him and you go, ‘you cannot stop, you’re too good.’”
Comparing her co-star to Daniel Day-Lewis, who retired from acting last year, Kidman said Grant would stun many with his performance in the David E. Kelley thriller.
“He’s mining places now with his life experience that are really extraordinary. He’s very bold and willing to play such a diverse range of characters now.”
While Kidman shared the credit for her latest TV project with the British star, she takes the spotlight on her own, on the cover of marie claire Australia (on sale October 8).
Sporting her trademark curls, first made famous in BMX Bandits, the working mum told the magazine she was relishing “the simple life” back home – with husband Keith and their two daughters, Sunday and Faith.
The family quarantined at their Southern Highlands home in June, before making a new “camp” in Byron Bay, where Kidman is currently filming Nine Perfect Strangers, alongside Offspring favourite Asher Keddie and Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy.
Bringing the production to Australia, after the pandemic shut down the industry in LA, has been a proud moment for Kidman.
“I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights, there’s been a lot of stress this year, but we’re making it work with protocols and limitations. I still can’t believe we did it. And to have the opportunity to give jobs to 1400 people — from July to Christmas — is such a joy for me, personally.”
She said the support of her musician superstar husband has allowed her to embrace more opportunities in TV and film, as an actor and producer, as well as wife and mother.
“I have a husband who’s an ally. In the past four months, he’s really been carrying the load
for me. I married into my heart. He just came along, and he’s protected me, he’s loved me, given me confidence, and made me so much more comfortable. He knows who I am and he’s opened me up.”
The Undoing will stream on BINGE from October 26.
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