Nine Perfect Strangers: Nicole Kidman, Asher Keddie discuss mental pressure of shooting amid COVID-19 pandemic

With the COVID-19 pandemic halting everyday life in 2020 and continuing to do so in 2021, production on movies and TV shows were forced to be shut down for months on end. Amongst the several highly-awaited projects which commenced shooting under COVID-19 protocols in mid-2020 was Nine Perfect Strangers, starring Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Asher Keddie, Luke Evans and more, in Byron Bay, Australia.

Given the intricate storyline of Nine Perfect Strangers with the characters venturing into a wellness retreat and being obliged to face their caged mental trauma, the shoot would definitely not have been an easy one. Add to that, there's a sense of confinement of working amid a global pandemic. During a roundtable interview at Nine Perfect Strangers' International Press Junket, which Pinkvilla was a part of, we asked co-stars Nicole and Asher how their mental experience was to shoot for the mind-bending series in the midst of COVID-19 protocols, whether it was pressurising or not.

"I mean, Asher can answer to that because I was sort of... we were in a bubble, we were all working together. I was so happy. I had my family with me, Asher had to leave her family, so, and a lot of the cast members had to 'cause that was, we were in... I think that was one of the biggest things is that you couldn't travel easily. So Asher should answer that," Kidman, who plays Tranquillum House's mysterious wellness guru Masha in Nine Perfect Strangers, began before leaving the floor for Keddie to relay her experience.

Chuckling, Asher recounted, "Yeah. I mean, the content of the show, there was that for sure. I had to leave my family and this is the first time I've ever done that and that was challenging. However, the bubble that we were in and the protocols we had to follow and everyone followed admirably, in particular, our incredible crew, was great actually and pretty conducive to the material that we were exploring really, I think. Don't you think, Nic?" [Nicole replied, "Yeah."]"

...and this is a true ensemble piece, I feel. Everyone has their storyline that is really, really intricately told. And there's eight hours of fascinating storylines for nine different characters and that's really rare but exciting as well.

Nicole Kidman

The 47-year-old actress, who plays Heather, a guest at the wellness retreat, in Nine Perfect Strangers, further added, "It was very intense, very... there was no halfway with this project. I mean, we really threw ourselves into it, the emotional and physical investment was big. So yes, it was challenging and it was mentally rigorous but I think I'll go out on a limb here and say that the entire ensemble is an ensemble of actors that actually enjoy that so we were happy to push and be challenged in that way mentally."

Chiming in on Asher's comment, Nicole agreed, "Yeah, and we were able to really work on it altogether, all the time, [Asher also chimes in, "Yeah."] because there was not really a lot of distractions, I mean, we were in Byron Bay and we were there for months on end and so we would all... we were just together."

The 54-year-old actress concluded, "You couldn't do anything else but work on the show and spend time together. And so that's a very unusual thing this day and age because prior to this pandemic, a lot of this was, people would come in, fly out, there wasn't that feeling of... and this is a true ensemble piece, I feel. Everyone has their storyline that is really, really intricately told. And there's eight hours of fascinating storylines for nine different characters and that's really rare but exciting as well."

We can't wait to see this fascinating ensemble leaving us wowed with what promises to be some epic performances in Nine Perfect Strangers!

Are you excited to watch Nine Perfect Strangers? Share your excitement with Pinkvilla in the comments section below.

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Meanwhile, based on Liane Moriarty's New York Times Best-Selling novel of the same name, Nine Perfect Strangers premieres on Amazon Prime Video on August 20.