It is easy to look at the angry scenes from the US following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade and distance ourselves from it here in the UK. But a closer look at the protests across the US reveals that people who marched for abortion rights in the 1960s and 70s are back on the streets in 2022. Fighting the fight all over again.

Their contemporaries in the UK are those who fought for abortion rights before the Abortion Act 1967 was passed. Also those who risked their lives – or lost their lives – to illegal abortion. And those who struggled to access safe abortion even after it was decriminalised.

Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe) and her lawyer Gloria Allred on the steps of the Supreme Court 1989, Photo: Laurie Shaull

Chris’ story

Chris, 69, had two abortions in the 1970s and says she is now “afraid for the women of America”.

Aged 17, she was in a relationship when she found out she had a rubber allergy and relied on the withdrawal method for contraception. Abortions were available on the NHS at the time, but she ended up borrowing £100 to pay for the procedure.

“My GP said if I had the abortion on the NHS, I would have to wait a while and then it would be too late,” she recalls. “But he knew a private gynaecologist who could do it. I’ve often wondered if it was a money-making scheme for the two of them.”

Chris had her second abortion aged 19 after what she described as “a drunken night with man that wasn’t going anywhere.” The procedure was free this time, through the BPAS. If she had not been able to access abortion, she says her life today would “not be recognisable”. Chris was training as a nurse at the time and became a midwife, which she says would not have happened if she carried the pregnancies to term, before getting married and having two children.

“We should just have the right to choose, there should be no stigma, no fear and much more awareness of how to access care, our body is ours to do with as we wish,” she says.

The Roe v Wade effect in the UK

Rather than dismissing the fallout from the Roe v Wade decision as merely an issue for America, it has multiple impacts on the UK. Here, the anti-abortion movement is vocal, albeit not nearly as large in number or influence as the US movement, but the decision has emboldened campaigners and politicians on this side of the Atlantic.

UK anti-abortion groups were quick to issue statements in support of Roe v Wade being overturned. The issue was discussed in the House of Commons, with Conservative MP Danny Kruger causing controversy over his remarks about women’s bodily autonomy. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab rejected calls to include the right to choose in the government’s planned Bill of Rights, after he was asked about this by Labour MP Rosie Duffield this week. Prochoice campaigners have renewed calls for buffer zones to be placed around UK abortion clinics in response to fears that the Roe v Wade decision will increase the number of anti-abortion protesters outside these facilities.

Limits on abortion access in Northern Ireland and Scotland

The US Supreme Court decision has shone a light on the limitations to abortion access within the UK. In Northern Ireland, the law changed in 2019 to allow abortion up to 12 weeks, and beyond that time limit in circumstances, such as severe feotal abnormality. But in reality, women in Northern Ireland are still having to travel to England, Scotland, or Wales for abortions because no abortion services have been commissioned by Stormont.

However, change may be coming in Northern Ireland. Last month, MPs in the House of Commons voted to allow the UK government to directly commission abortion services in Northern Ireland, with 215 votes in favour and 70 against. Click here to find out how your MP voted.

Alliance for Choice, a Northern Ireland abortion rights campaign group, wrote an open letter to America in response to Roe v Wade being overturned. The letter compares the experiences of people in Northern Ireland and the US states where severe abortion restrictions are coming into force: “Although the vast majority of both Americans and Northern Irish people think that abortion should be legal, those intent on denying women and pregnant people access to abortion healthcare may inform the police of what they think is ‘illegal behaviour’.”

Campaigners at Alliance for Choice reiterated their commitment to help women in Northern Ireland and worldwide access safe abortion services, through strong ties with online abortion pill providers, such as Women on Web and Women Help Women.

“We have been the people offering advice and help to women and pregnant people who need abortions; finding ways to share the information that helps the most people without getting ourselves into trouble,” the letter says. “We know what it is like to be criminalised for helping people, having our homes searched and our workplaces raided, risking arrest.”

Meanwhile, in Scotland, the Abortion Act 1967 is in force, but there are no health authorities with the capacity to perform abortions up to the legal limit of 24 weeks. In most areas, 16 weeks is the cut-off. Jane Carnall from Edinburgh Abortion Rights clarified that the overwhelming majority of women who need abortions in Scotland can access care. She told Silver that around one patient a week travels to England for an abortion, either because a late-term abortion is needed or because they are combining the trip with other reasons to visit south of the border.

“Safe, legal and local” should be the mantra for abortion access, according to Jane. In Scotland, pro-choice campaigners are now turning their sights on ensuring laws to introduce buffer zones around clinics are passed in the Scottish parliament. Jane says this will prevent anti-choice protesters from harassing patients and clinic staff. There are also strong calls to ensure a senior consultant who can safely perform late-term abortions is based in Scotland for the relatively small number of cases each year. Advances in telemedicine, including home delivery of abortion pills and telephone consultations, have improved abortion access in Scotland, particularly in remote areas.

Abortion access for women over 40

For women aged over 40, access to abortion is an important part of healthcare. Despite perimenopause or menopause either on the horizon or a reality, unplanned pregnancies continue to be an issue for this age group. Factors such as improved reproductive technology have increased pregnancy rates among women over 40 – for many, what was once commonly referred to as a “geriatric pregnancy” is a source of great joy. But for other women, a pregnancy after 40 is genuinely distressing.

Portia’s story – pregnancy and ADHD

Portia, 44, had an abortion during the first lockdown: “I was busy with work and raising teenagers – despite having zero symptoms, I knew it would be positive. I had no idea how far gone I was, but I guesstimated anything up to 10 weeks.”

Carrying the pregnancy to term “didn’t even feel like a decision”, Portia recalls. Her husband was sanguine and supportive of any decision she made. “For space, for finances, our ages, and the future, it simply never felt like a practical option for us,” she says.

Portia had an initial consultation on 5 March 2020 and she was able to get a local appointment for the termination on 28 March, five days after the UK had gone into lockdown. To her relief, abortion services had not been affected, although the risk of testing positive before her appointment was a source of anxiety because “time was of the essence” – when the pregnancy was dated, she was more than 18 weeks pregnant.

“I have ADHD, so for me this means I am rational, but I struggle with executive function,” Portia explains. “I am not very organised and need to find time to concentrate for certain tasks, so I would take a week to get a pregnancy test, where other people would just crack on.”

Her local clinic was running a patients-only service, which suited Portia as she always planned to go alone, although she says it would have been stressful for those who would have preferred to take someone with them.

Portia describes the Roe v Wade decision as “staggering”.

“I do not understand how this is happening in 2022, there are really no words to the effect this has on women’s freedom and bodily autonomy in the modern world,” she says. “As we know, there is a risk of more pregnancy complications the older we are, and this threat to women’s health cannot be ignored.”

An American in the UK speaks out

Leslie, an American woman living in the UK, had an abortion in her early 20s: “I was not in any position to care for a child or be a mother – having children later on really solidified why choosing to terminate was the correct thing to do at the time.”

“I am originally from a US state where abortion will remain legal, but so many girls and women will be making anguished journeys hundreds or even thousands of miles from their homes [since Roe v Wade was overturned],” she says. “I was able to safely and privately recover from the procedure without fear of being found out. These girls and women may not have the same options.”

She says she is “devastated” by the decision to overturn Roe v Wade. Not long after her third child was born, Leslie, then 35, had a pregnancy scare. Her daughter was less than a year old. She says she could not have coped with three children under five and would have “certainly aborted” if the test was positive.

“Now I’m 45, my kids are 10, 12, and 19, my husband is 52 and our family is complete,” Leslie told Silver. “Though I am healthy enough to carry a pregnancy to term, I have no desire to do so. My pregnancies were rough physically – I had such bad pelvic problems during my second pregnancy that my doctors were concerned I’d end up in a wheelchair.”

Leslie enjoys the relationships she has with her children now they’re older, without being “bothered with breastfeeding, nappies, toddler groups and packing a ridiculous bag for a trip to the shops.”

“While there are women my age and older who do become pregnant and give birth, that’s their choice – I don’t want to be dealing with primary school in my 50s and teen drama in my 60s.”

She urges women in the UK to be vocal about supporting abortion rights, based on her own experience of abortion in the US: “I grew up with women who talked about the dark days before Roe v Wade and the affects it had on families and communities. UK women need to be very vocal about supporting abortion rights and make sure nothing like this can happen here. We’ve seen rights eroded in this country – don’t rest on your laurels and think it can’t happen here. Your life and safety depend on your vigilance. Don’t frame it as a choice – it’s your right to healthcare.”

Georgia Lewis

In a career that has spanned Australia, the Middle East and the UK, Georgia has written about all sorts of things, including sex, cars, food, oil and gas, insurance, fashion, travel, workplace safety, health, religious affairs, glass and glazing… When she’s not writing words for fun and profit, she can usually be found with a glass of something French and red in her hand.

The post Roe v Wade ripples across the pond appeared first on Silver Magazine.

The film, directed by David Gordon Green, picks up exactly where the previous film ended in 2018. We caught up to interview the splendid Jamie Lee Curtis at the Venice Film Festival, where we spoke about everything from her first movie role to feminism, and of course discussed the latest instalment in the Halloween series.

Halloween Kills premiered at the 78^th Venice International Film Festival, where Jamie also just so happened to pick up the Golden Lion award for Lifetime Achievement.

Curtis is an artist with that rare ability to turn on the star quality whilst still seeming like someone you’d love to hang out with. We tracked her down at the Festival and had a chance to find out we can expect from the film, as well as discussing the highlights of her impressive career.

Michael Myers in Halloween Kills (2021)

Coming full circle

Jamie’s career began with Halloween, where we met her character Laurie for the first time back in 1978. Her success in the role subsequently earned her back-to-back casting in other horror films, and status as a ‘scream queen’.

She credits her beginnings in the horror scene for her international career spanning six decades, which led to her meeting John Landis. The rest, as they say, is history.

“My performance in [Trading Places] was a gift from John, who by the way met me, weirdly enough, because of horror films. John did a short that he directed called Coming Soon, which is a ‘50s horror film short about those wonderful trailers that you used to see. And he needed somebody to narrate it and who would you call except the young woman who was now in horror movies?

“He met me and … he must have figured out something because the next thing I know, he hired me to be in Trading Places. And because of Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda happened, and because of A Fish Called Wanda, True Lies happened. I owe a great deal of gratitude to John Landis for having the courage to hire me in that film, which really did change things.”

On top of her impressive filmography, Curtis has lived a rich life. She has two adopted children with her husband Christopher Guest: a daughter, Annie, and a transgender daughter, Ruby. Her marriage to Christopher came five months after she saw a picture of him from the film This is Spinal Tap and told her friend Debra Hill, “I’m going to marry that guy.”

She’s very open about the fact that she is a recovering alcoholic, and was addicted to painkillers. She’s been sober since 1999, and maintains that recovery is the greatest achievement of her life. Jamie was guest of honour at the 11^th annual Women in Recovery gala and fundraiser in 2003, which is a California-based non-profit organisation for the rehabilitation of women in need.

Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween (1978)

All about Halloween

One of the most important things we’ve witnessed is Jamie’s relationship with her character, Laurie. She explained to us how exciting (and unusual) it is to be an actor in the same role for 43 years – particularly as a female actor, and a survivor.

“The beauty of human beings is that we change. We are battered and bruised and we emerge and grow; our bones heal, we move forward, and then we get battered and bruised again,” she muses.

The beauty of human beings is that we change. We are battered and bruised and we emerge and grow

The power of Laurie

She explains that what she loves about Laurie is her relatability. While what we’re seeing within Laurie is scripted for the big screen, the fact is that people can identify. “We are all human, and you relate to Laurie because you are wounded too. You are fighting back against demons in your life. And you somehow look at me and Laurie and say, ‘I am Laurie.’

“There was a moment during my last shot of the 2018 film, where Laurie is alone in her truck watching Michael leave the prison. And it’s written as ‘Laurie is alone in her truck, there’s alcohol, there’s a gun…’ and 40 years of her experience come back to haunt her. There’s no dialogue, it’s just Laurie alone. It was my last shot of the movie and I prepared in my trailer.

“As I approached the set and the entire crew – I’m someone who likes name tags in movies, where it says, ‘Hi, my name is…’ so I can know everybody’s name – and the entire crew were all wearing name tags that said, ‘We are Laurie Strode.’ And what they were saying in the moment was ‘we’re all Laurie Strode, and we are with you Jamie, in this moment, as you face it.’ I must tell you, that was a profound moment for me as an actor, and a profound moment for me as a human being. Because it said that we are all the same, we’re all human, we’re all battered, we’re all bruised, but we’re all still here.”

Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween Kills (2021)

So how did she prepare for the role?

“I scare easily. I know it’s a silly thing to say, but I am an untrained actor. I’ve never been to acting class. I prepare emotionally, but that’s my job. I scare easily. And I hate these movies, I loathe them, I do not like to be frightened. I think that genuine, emotional connection to being afraid… you are watching what is happening in real life, on screen.

“There is no psychological preparation. It’s just… I’ve been traumatised, I’ve had sad things happen, and I’ve had violent things happen. So all of these reactions are just natural manifestations of my own experience.”

Success vs criticism

The Halloween franchise is hugely successful; perhaps one of the most well-known franchises worldwide. How does that feel?

“I think what sets these movies apart is there’s not a lot of deep fake – these movies are real. There’s not a lot of CGI. There are real people in real places, doing scary shit. What I love about Halloween, and particularly Halloween Kills, is that the brutality is real. It’s not a construction. And again, I think that’s why people attach back to them. They’re real and to the point, even the recreation of a dead person is almost real. And I think that’s what also makes these movies all so special, is a little secret sauce.”

I did Trading Places, and I took my shirt off, and I was suddenly what they called legitimate, an A-lister. Now, today, the women’s movement would love Laurie Strode

But with success comes criticism, as is often the case. One of the most significant criticisms of Jamie’s involvement in this franchise is the anti-feminist comments surrounding the first film. John Carpenter – the original director – used to get very frustrated with people calling the film ‘anti-feminist’ or saying it was ‘women-bashing’, mainly because the only one that didn’t die was the virgin.

But Laurie was smart, capable, and John stated: ‘she had no time for boys.’ As a feminist icon, Jamie’s thoughts around this were important to us, and she admitted herself that “the women’s movement kind of hated me.”

Read about Jamie Lee Curtis’ big win: Backstage chat at the Oscars – the big four

But she feels like maybe the this was all back to front, no pun intended…

“I did Trading Places, and I took my shirt off, and I was suddenly what they called legitimate, an A-lister. Now, today, the women’s movement would love Laurie Strode.

But at that moment, it was interesting for me as a young actress, because I’m playing the very thing that we really – I think – respect, particularly about women; their strength and intelligence and ability to, excuse my pun here, shape shift. And, you know, fight back against the adversity that women have done since the beginning of time. And yet, it was sort of anti-feminist. Anyway, I always thought that was funny.”

Trading Places cast
L-R Eddie Murphy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd

An uncertain star

Someone at the Venice Film Festival asked Jamie if she was aware that Trading Places was shown every Christmas Eve in Italy. Of course, it also appears in the UK too. But it seems like the US doesn’t get the full unedited version, certainly not on TV. Jamie is surprised.

“Somebody mentioned that to me today and I said, ‘They show it on television?’ and they said, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘They show all of it on television?’ and they said ‘Yes! It’s a beloved film here in Italy.’ And I’m thinking about 14-year-old boys at Christmas seeing my incredibly beautiful 21-year-old self and thinking ‘Wow – that’s very different from America’. I love that movie.”

Now, in 2021, Jamie has received the Golden Lion Award for Lifestyle Achievement. She explained she has mixed feelings about winning this sort of award and was finding it hard to wrap her head around it.

“[That achievement] seems to be sort of closed, whereas I’m working more and more creatively today than I have been since I was born. So it’s odd for me, and yet I am incredibly honoured,” she explains. She thinks of Halloween, A Fish Called Wanda, and True Lies as the three films she’d called her legacy, though explained that of course there were others, work she bluntly refers to as “pieces of shit”. And no, we don’t know what she’s referring to!

If you want to try and get ahead before seeing the latest film, it looks like most of the Halloween films are on Amazon Prime, although goodness only knows which order to watch them in! Wikipedia can probably tell you that.

As told to Jenny Davis / edits Carly Pepperell

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Pasha is a glorious, gorgeous blonde grandmother in her fifties, not that you’d ever know to look at her. She’s a feminist (and she might spank us) so we’ll stay respectful, but let’s just say her physique puts women half her age to shame. She’s an artist and performer with a string of academic qualifications, and is a punk, through and through. She’s also a Dominatrix. Be afraid.

“I am the Golden Dominatrix,” she explains. “I am an artist specialising in pleasure and pain and the fine art of domination and submission. I use theatre, performance, multimedia, and written words, as well as the more traditional avenues of pleasure and pain through the physical experience of BDSM.”

Tell us a bit about your submissives

My clients are a very diverse group of individuals. They have no typical qualities and cross all classes, education levels, intellectual radius, sizes and shapes. The only thing they share in common is a desire to experience my control over them in some form or other, be that mental and or physical.

Do you Domme them in person or remotely?

I use remote dominance via Skype and web cam as well as mobile phones. I even have a text Domme service which is proving successful and popular for all concerned. The client is issued instruction via their mobile and must complete set tasks in a set time and provide proof that these tasks have been completed. I also invite select clients to experience the art of domination with me in the flesh but these clients would have proved themselves worthy to me prior to invite.

Where do they come from?

I have clients from all over the world. Some do not speak any English at all, simply the language of submission.

What kind of people are they?

Pasha – definitely in charge

My clients need to be confident with their submission; I do not take on inexperienced submissives. I demand a well-rounded client who will not falter at my instruction. My clients are broadminded and liberal and they do exactly as they are told.

Are they all male?

I will work with couples but I do not work with single women at the current time.

What do you get out of it?

I am always exploring my highest level of dominant comfort so there is a challenge involved; how far I can push, what is the ultimate control that I can feel pleasure from. This is exciting as a personal development. If I am working with a client it would always be a business transaction. I consider my work as that of an artist and charge just as an artist would, by the hour plus expenses.

Is this a business transaction they pay for?

Yes generally all domination will be paid for, unless part of a collaborative creative project in a gallery setting or for an art film for example, whereby the submissive was also an artist, as opposed to a client. In a financial arrangement it is essential that the client does not assume any power because of a payment. The payment must never be misconstrued as providing influence or levy. I will not work with a client without full reign and governance.

Is this merely an art form or do you genuinely love doing this?

I started the art of domination purely as an art form as a feminist; to formalize my personal experiences with power and to make sense of my position in the world. I have since developed a great love of domination and it has become who I am.

Enslaved by the Golden Dominatrix

Can you tell us a bit about what you ask your submissives to do?

In person I offer these services; it is not a complete list as that would be impossible. Obviously the remote domination is more task-based but I will have my submissives act out punishments and send me proof.

• Whipping, flogging, spanking, chain beatings etc
• Feathers, soft play, tickling torture
• Hot wax play, lighter play
• Water trough, toilet ducking, and submersion in liquids
• Kicking, spitting, high heels abuse, thumping, slapping etc
• Humiliation through verbal abuse
• All forms of corporal punishment, lines, running on the spot etc
• Restriction, cuffs etc, leads and straight jacket
• Teasing and restriction of orgasm
• Sensory deprivation
• Pins and needles, scratching
• Feminisation
• Masks and gags
• Restricted breathing
• Hair pulling

Do you get them to do housework?!

I do have a couple of clients who enjoy being made to clean up yes. They are never any good at it and have to be punished.

Is there any particular activity or punishment that’s your favourite?

I like them all but each client is different and excites something unique in my desire to control or dominate them. I may enjoy a particular practice with a particular client because of the relationship I have whilst dominating them.

Does it ever go wrong?

Never. I vet all my clients and I am professional and careful. If things seem to be faltering at any point I end the session immediately. The only time things went badly was when a client’s wife turned up unexpectedly.

Do you use safe words?

Yes the safe word is always agreed on at the start of the session.

Do you have relationships with your subs or is it just a BDSM thing?

In a way the BDSM experience is already a kind of relationship but I have never taken that to a personal level, no.

Do you switch?

Never.

What does your mum think?!

She thinks it is art, and that is what matters.

Long term prospects?

I plan to carry on developing the art of domination for at least 20 more years. Obviously there are opportunities for books and films which are already in production as well as a range of specialist equipment in gold after my hand made golden dildo and strap on.

Is this something you think you’ll always do?

I do hope so.

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Nicole Kidman’s longevity in the film industry is a marker not only for age and experience, but the ability to choose scripts that inspire the actress as much as watching audiences, and she has already given as many bravura performances as any actor can rightfully be expected to deliver in one lifetime. But the last year or two has been an exceptionally rich period for the Australian star.

An Oscar nomination for Lion preceded not only her award-winning work in the critically-acclaimed HBO TV series but also two high profile indie films, The Beguiled, directed by Sofia Coppola, and controversial Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Killing of the Sacred Deer. She also has a key role in Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake.

Busy? You bet. But it is Kidman’s portrayal of battered wife Celeste in Big Little Lies that has set Hollywood on fire. Not only has it won her the Globe, it has earned her a best actress Emmy nomination, and many critics have argued that it is perhaps the finest work of her distinguished career.

Accepting her award last night, Kidman said, “The character I play represents something that is the centre of our conversation right now – abuse… I hope we can elicit change through the stories we tell and the way we tell them. Let’s keep the conversation alive. Let’s do it.”

What makes all this this particularly remarkable is that Nicole Kidman is winning such plaudits in a year that saw her turn 50, an age that often spells doom for female movie stars. But the industry is changing, and Nicole is taking advantage of this point in her career to test her limits even further.

“I’m not a people pleaser… I say what I think and I don’t choose roles that are just going to placate”

“I’m blown away,” she says. “For all this confluence of events and success to be happening; that feels really powerful and makes me unbelievably thankful.

“I’m also anxious to keep taking more risks in my work than ever. I’ve always had the kind of attitude where I tell myself ‘why not?’ when it comes to working with new directors and wanting to explore different kinds of stories and characters, so that’s what I’m doing.

“Emotionally, I still feel so open and curious and want to always be jumping off the cliff with the abandonment of a 21-year-old. I’ve fallen off that cliff a few times,” she laughs. “But my husband reminds me I’m not a people-pleaser, because I say what I think and I don’t choose roles that are going to placate, and that’s just the way I was raised – to stand up for what you believe and not fit in.”

That attitude certainly applies to her film, The Killing of the Sacred Deer, in which she plays the wife of a surgeon (Colin Farrell), and watches as a strange 16-year-old boy enters their lives and exerts a mysterious hold on their family. Lanthimos (Dogtooth, The Lobster) is notorious for his profoundly disturbing narrative journeys and Kidman was anxious to enter his bizarre universe.

“When I was younger, I would try to fit into a formula, but that never worked for me”

“At this stage in my life I want to stay very bold and open, and try things and support filmmakers that I believe in. Yorgos (Lanthimos) is one of those directors who has a very unique filmmaking style- I’m totally up for taking risks… and supporting people who are trying different things.”

“When I was younger, I would try to fit into a formula, but that never worked for me. I was being advised to do big American movies, and as soon as I freed myself artistically to follow filmmakers and storyteller, I found my passion.”

An outspoken advocate for women’s rights and in particular a vociferous proponent of equal pay for women in Hollywood, Kidman applies her feminist mindset when co-producing Big Little Lies together with good friend Reese Witherspoon.

Based on the eponymous best-seller by Australian author Liane Moriarty, ‘Big Little…’ not only proved to be a massive critical success but has made TV history in that it was the first ‘lead’ series ever to feature five talented actresses – Nicole Kidman, Reece Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and rising star Zoe Kravitz – in the main starring roles.

“There are five great roles here. For women, it’s very, very rare. I like working with women, but first of all I like to find the right stories. For years I’ve worked to support women in all fields. And I believe in sisterhood. I learned so much from having a feminist mother who in the 1960s who fought for our rights and has always been involved in social work. We are sisters in the world and we have to support each other.”

Playing Celeste was far more physically and psychologically demanding than she expected

Playing the part of Celeste, a mother of twin boys married to Perry (Alexander Skarsgard), an abusive, jet-setting businessman, Kidman invested herself fully in a highly compelling and shattering role. Playing Celeste was far more physically and psychologically demanding than she expected, however.

“It is deeply disturbing playing her,” Kidman observes. “It’s a complicated character and I definitely felt the weight of it. A lot of times I can move away from the character very easily, yet this one I found a lot harder to move away from because it’s a very volatile relationship. They inflict pain on each other and there is an enormous amount of danger. At the end of a day’s shooting I’d go home, sit in the bath and cry.”

Celeste and Perry’s underlying relationship is fraught with psychodrama and that was part of what drew the fearless Aussie actress to the role in the first place: “We wanted it to be complicated. We didn’t want it to be black and white, because so many of these relationships are very complicated. There’s an addictive quality for them – the way in which they’re both culpable, and the way in which they can’t get away from each other, because there is love there… deep love. And they have two children. Which makes it even more difficult for her to see a way out.”

Kidman’s husband was shocked by the toll the series had on her. Nicole, however, wouldn’t have had it any other way

Her insistence on absolute realism not only impressed co-star Witherspoon and director Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club), but also left Kidman’s husband, singer and former American Idol judge Keith Urban, who was shocked by the toll the series had on her. Nicole, however, wouldn’t have had it any other way. And now it’s back again!

“There’s certain choreography that you need for a violent scene, so that you don’t actually get your cheekbone shattered,” she admits. “But a lot of the time, they’d say, ‘Oh, you can put some pads in your back,’ and I would say, ‘no, because you might be able to see them’, and besides it wouldn’t have been ‘real’“.

After having numerous and lengthy conversations with victims of domestic abuse prior to the filming, she came away with a heightened appreciation of her marriage to Urban. Says Kidman: “Keith and I always say that we are just so lucky to have each other. In this world, to be able to come back to that love and that strength is so nourishing and powerful.”

Married to the singer for the past 11 years, Kidman is as devoted to their happiness as she is looking after their two daughters – Sunday, eight, and Faith, six. They live in Nashville, which is mecca to her husband and his country music roots. Urban is particularly proud of his wife’s work in Big Little Lies:

“Everything about it was done with such a raw authenticity,” he says. “It was extraordinary work and, for me, among some of Nic’s finest work ever. Some of the therapy scenes were just fantastic. What I love especially is it was all them, it was all the girls that made this happen. This wasn’t a project that got brought to Nic or Reese (Witherspoon). This was them — Reese — reading the book, Nic getting on a plane and flying to Australia to meet (author) Liane Moriarty and seeing if they can get their support in securing the rights in getting it made into a series.”

For her part, Kidman is happy that she and Urban have found a pleasant rhythm to their private and professional lives. “As an actress, you’re always trying to balance motherhood with the work you want to do,” Kidman explains. “I’m fortunate in the sense that I’m married to a musician, so our schedules are able to be juggled. I keep it simple in that regard.”

She adds: “I’ve worked a lot, but I don’t have to work. I work because it is still my passion.”

Long may it continue.

Big Little Lies is on Sky/HBO

Richard Aldhous

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