Laughing when she saw her father's body, Nicole Kidman was slapped by her mother
- Nicole Kidman admitted that she laughed when she saw her father's corpse, and this made her mother slap her.
The 56-year-old actress plays the mother of a missing child in her new show, Expats. Nicole admitted to taking inspiration from the experience when her father, Anthony Kidman, died in 2014 for a scene where her character had to identify the corpse of a young boy.
"When we went to the morgue when we were told our son was there... "I just said, 'I'm going to try something because this is actually from my own life' — not when I went to the morgue, but when my father died, and I laughed," he said in an interview in Los Angeles last weekend.
"Because it was so devastating when I saw her body... and I had the most horrible reaction, which was I started shaking and laughing. And I was like, 'That's how Margaret (her role in Expat) would feel.'"
"My mom then looked at me and she literally had to slap me in the face and say, 'Nicole, wake up,' because my brain was so distracted... She said, over and over again, 'Get yourself together.'"
Recalling it was "very strange" to see her father's body, Nicole admitted she felt "embarrassed" by his reaction.
"(I felt) very embarrassed to talk about it, but at the same time I thought, 'But this is real.' And it's based on the deepest love and not being able to handle the situation."
The Australian actress then said so many viewers had experienced the same "terrifying" response to the tragedy.
"So many people have come to me later and said, 'Yeah, I've had that happen,' where you start shaking and instead of tears flowing, you shake with this weird laugh. It's terrible. It's terrible," said Nicole Kidman.
Tertawa saat Lihat Jenazah Ayah, Nicole Kidman Ditampar Sang Ibunda
- Nicole Kidman mengaku tertawa ketika melihat mayat ayahnya, dan hal itu membuat sang ibu kemudian menamparnya.
Aktris berusia 56 tahun itu memerankan ibu dari seorang anak yang hilang dalam acara barunya, Expats. Nicole mengaku mengambil inspirasi dari pengalaman saat ayahnya, Anthony Kidman, meninggal pada tahun 2014 untuk sebuah adegan di mana karakternya harus mengidentifikasi mayat seorang anak laki-laki.
"Ketika kami pergi ke kamar mayat ketika kami diberi tahu anak laki-laki kami ada di sana ... Saya hanya berkata, 'Saya akan mencoba sesuatu karena ini sebenarnya dari kehidupan saya sendiri' — bukan ketika saya pergi ke kamar mayat, tetapi ketika ayah saya meninggal, dan saya tertawa," katanya dalam sebuah wawancara di Los Angeles akhir pekan lalu.
"Karena itu begitu menghancurkan ketika saya melihat tubuhnya... dan saya memiliki reaksi yang paling mengerikan, yaitu saya mulai gemetar dan tertawa. Dan saya seperti, 'Itulah yang akan dirasakan oleh Margaret (peranya di Expat).'"
"Ibu saya kemudian melihat saya dan dia benar-benar harus menampar wajah saya dan mengatakan, 'Nicole, sadarlah,' karena otak saya begitu terganggu... Dia berkata, berkali-kali, 'Sadarkan dirimu.'"
Mengingat baginya "sangat aneh" melihat jenazah ayahnya, Nicole mengakui dia merasa "malu" dengan reaksinya.
"(Saya merasa) sangat malu untuk membicarakannya, tetapi pada saat yang sama saya berpikir, 'Tapi ini nyata.' Dan itu berdasarkan cinta yang paling dalam dan tidak bisa menangani situasi."
Aktris asal Australia itu kemudian menyebut begitu banyak penonton mengalami respons yang sama "mengerikan" terhadap tragedi.
"Begitu banyak orang yang telah datang kepada saya kemudian dan berkata, 'Ya, saya pernah mengalaminya,' di mana Anda mulai gemetar dan bukan air mata yang mengalir, Anda gemetar dengan tawa aneh ini. Ini mengerikan. Mengerikan," tutur Nicole Kidman.