Nicole Kidman was left in physical pain after shooting intense scenes in 'Big Little Lies'

She said: "Afterward, I would just be quiet. I would go home and be quiet. After we shot some of the really, really violent scenes, I was in a lot of pain myself. My body was.

"It was very strange. It was very uncomfortable. It wasn't a good feeling, I have to say.

"But women go through this, so I wanted to tap into the truth of it, and I wanted to be real in those scenes, so that's what it required -- an element of violence."

And the Australian beauty - who has children Isabella, 24, and Connor, 22, with ex-husband Tom Cruise, and daughters Sunday, eight, and Faith, six, with spouse Keith Urban - still feels "weird" and "uncomfortable" talking about her scenes in the drama series.

She added to Vulture: "I feel weird talking about it. I'm not comfortable because -- I don't know -- I feel like I want the work to speak for itself, and I don't like dissecting it too much.

"It's probably one of the hardest roles I've had to talk about because I'm still very raw about it, if that makes any kind of sense. It's weird."

Nicole was overjoyed when Alexander signed up to play her husband because not only was he great to work with, she also found it "helpful" that he's much taller than her own 1.8m.

She said: "Alex was so fantastic to work with because he was so into it and open and available. It's a roller coaster, their relationship. It's a very, very difficult relationship to map over seven hours.

"He was really amazing because he wanted to work with Jean-Marc (Vallée, director), and it's a great role for him. It's not what it seems, so he followed the spirit and he really captured it, I think.

"He's obviously got that ability to pull you in and hold you, and he breaks down, you know? He has that whole fragility to him as well -- so this sort of dominance and then this fragility; it's a weird mix.

"And, obviously, he's very tall as well, which is really, really helpful for me. It's not often that I look small. So physically he's very dominating as well, which is frightening, but I take him on."