Nicole Kidman has revealed how difficult she found it playing a mother who loses her child in the film Rabbit Hole.
Speaking to BBC Radio Four’s Front Row, she said: “I knew before going into it that it was dangerous, but I couldn’t foresee the way it was going to disturb me on such a deep level.”
Kidman is nominated in the Best Actress category at this year’s Oscars for her portrayal of Becca, a woman who along with her husband Howie (Aaron Eckhart) are trying to find happiness again after the death of their son.
Kidman, who herself is a mother, said that working on the film did affect her on a highly personal level but that she felt she had learnt something from the experience.
“At the same time as it disturbed me, it was also walking through something that is probably one of my biggest fears, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“And the way in which the film and the play has been constructed there’s an enormous amount of hope in the story.”
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Kidman, who also produced the film, says that it was after having read a theatre review of the play that she decided to make it into a movie.
“The review said it was funny and never sentimental and very, very real,” Kidman reveals.
“I thought ‘Ah that’s how this subject matter should be handled’ and that’s what drew me to it.”
Rabbit Hole is based on the award-winning play by David Lindsay-Abaire, who also wrote the screenplay for Kidman’s film.
Sex And The City actress Cynthia Nixon has previously played the role as Becca on Broadway, for which she won the prestigious Tony Award For Leading Actress In A Play.
