Nicole Kidman says Biggest Little Lies is the biggest hit of her career

Nicole Kidman has starred in box office blockbusters and scored an Oscar for The Hours. But it’s her latest TV outing that has been the biggest hit of her career.

She has an Oscar in her trophy cabinet and a career spanning 36 years — but Nicole Kidman says her role in acclaimed drama series Big Little Lies has been the biggest of her working life.

The Australian superstar, who will revive her role as widow Celeste Wright, said she had never been part of a production with such “enormous demand from the audience” — with the second season driven almost entirely by its viewers.

The first season, adapted from the best-selling book by Sydney author, Liane Moriarty, set ratings records for Foxtel and US cable studio, HBO, which pushed the writer to sketch out plans for a follow-up season (to air from June 10).

Nicole Kidman stars in the second series of Big Little Lies, to premiere next month. Picture: AFP

Its stellar cast, which also includes Kidman’s producing partner Reese Witherspoon as well as Laura Dern, Zoe Kravitz and Shailene Woodley, forged a strong bond as “the Monterey Five” who combine to take their revenge on Kidman’s abusive on-screen husband, played by Alexander Skasgard.

Being part of such a real-life sisterhood was an entirely new experience for Kidman.

“Being able to be a part of that group, I’ve never had that. And it’s lovely at this stage of my life and career to be doing something that I’ve never done before.”

Kidman said “we all said goodbye at the end [of season one] but we became very close and we had such a good time doing it … the desire to spend more time together was a huge part of [doing season two].”

The audience wanted more Big Little Lies — and they got it. Picture: AFP

But the audience engagement with the female-driven story was a force in itself.

“I’ve never been in something that reached so far, globally,” Kidman said.

“And that was such a compelling idea, in terms of putting it together again that we were like, ‘okay.’

“But it was very much generated by the actual audiences and the desire to see these people still in existence.”

This time around the female force became even stronger, with the presence of director Andrea Arnold and the addition of Meryl Streep.

On set! Nicole Kidman stars as Celeste in the second series of Big Little Lies.

Nicole Kidman, left, and Big Little Lies co-star Reese Witherspoon.

Meanwhile, Witherspoon and Kidman have emerged as powerful producers in the process — with the Sweet Home Alabamastar buying the rights to Harper Collins literary hit, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine; while Kidman confirmed she has inked a deal to bring Moriaty’s latest book, Nine Perfect Strangers, to the small screen.

The movie stars have relished the expansive way they can flesh out their Big Little Lies characters in the new season.

BFFs Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. Picture: FilmMagic/FilmMagic for HBO

“The beauty of television is you do have seven hours and so you do have the chance to delve deeply into six women’s lives,” Kidman said, adding “I mean, I don’t know another show that has six female leads.”

Witherspoon said the timing of the series, during the rise of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, had provided unexpected momentum.

Oscar winners! Meryl Streep, right, has joined the cast of Big Little Lies’ second series.

Shailene Woodley, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon are back in Monterey.

“We had no idea there was gonna be that kind of public response to the show, that it was going to converge with this moment of women, sensing their need to be leaders and step up and talk about their experiences with strength and with encouragement for other women.”

After dealing with themes of domestic violence and sexual assault in the first season, Witherspoon says season two explores the aftermath.

“We’ve talked about trauma, we’ve experienced trauma, we see each other’s trauma, but how do we cope with it. And how do we go on?” she said.

“So that was a big theme that we explored in season two.”

Big Little Lies Season Two airs Monday, June 10 on Foxtel’s Fox Showcase — where you can also catch up on the first season.

Originally published as Nicole Kidman says Biggest Little Lies is the biggest hit of her career