Nicole Kidman talks 'enormous stress' of filming during pandemic

Nicole Kidman has opened up about the stress of filming during the Covid-19 pandemic.

During an interview for her new series Nine Perfect Strangers, Kidman explained the "enormous amount of stress" required to pull off film and health protocols.

"There’s an enormous amount of stress being responsible for people’s safety and health,” the actress told The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age. “We took that really seriously. There was testing, mask wearing and if someone had a sore throat – even if the test came back negative – we rescheduled, or we shut down. We couldn’t put anyone at risk. And we got through without one case, which is extraordinary.”

The series was the first to be filmed in Australia under pandemic safety measures. On top of that, the 54-year-old is the star and executive producer of the Amazon show, which follows the story of "wellness" guru Masha Dmitrichenko and troubled strangers who are "transformed" during a 10-day retreat. Regina King, Melissa McCarthy, and Bobby Cannavale co-star in the drama.

Kidman also admitted that if the crew had known how risky completing the project would be, it may not have happened at all.

"I don’t think we realised what we were taking on,” she added. “If we’d known how high the risk was in terms of the whole thing being shut down and being destroyed like that, I don’t think the financiers would have taken the risk. We kind of played Russian roulette in that way."

Nine Perfect Strangers, inspired by the best-selling book by Liane Moriarty, premieres on 18 August on Amazon Prime.