Nicole Kidman transformed her appearance for ‘Destroyer’ because she wanted her portrayal of a desperate police detective to be "real".
The 51-year-old actress – who has already earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role as Erin Bell in the new drama – had no qualms with leaving behind her glamorous Hollywood image and donning sallow skin, dark circles and mousy-brown hair because she wanted to be true to her on-screen character.
Nicole told The i newspaper: "I just wanted her to be real.
"Just give me a woman who has not taken care of herself at all, who has drunk a lot, who has done drugs, who has been given no self-care and no self-love and who sleeps in her car sometimes.
"She doesn’t sleep much, but medicates and she is in a rough place She is hanging on for dear life, she is surly and she is p***ed off.
"I wasn’t aware that it was blurring so rapidly and I couldn’t step out of it. Half the time, I wore the costume home as I couldn’t be bothered to change.
"I really took on, I suppose, the depression and the pain and just the nihilistic approach that she had. I existed in limbo."
Director Karyn Kasuma was keen to physically transform the ‘Moulin Rouge!’ actress into a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
She said: "I need to explore this character, I want to know her better,’ it’s hard not to pay attention when an actor of that level approaches you.
"It felt important that we helped to take her through that physical transformation so that she felt she could authentically occupy the world."
Nicole Kidman ‘uglied-up’ for Destroyer because she wanted ‘to be real’
