How Nicole Kidman’s ‘Devastating’ Experience of Seeing Her Father’s Dead Body Informed Her Performance in Expats

The actress, whose dad Anthony died in 2014, discussed how her real life informed a morgue scene in the show during an Emmys For Your Consideration event on April 28

Nicole Kidman’s experience in confronting the death of her dad closely inspired her reaction to a challenging scene in the show Expats.

While speaking at the FYC event for the show in Los Angeles on April 28, Kidman, who plays the mother of a missing child, shared how her awkward response to seeing the body of her late father Anthony Kidman was used for her character’s reaction to identifying a child’s body.

“When we go to the morgue when we’re told our son is there … I just said, ‘I’m gonna try something because this is actually from my own life’ — not where I went to a morgue, but when my father passed away, and I laughed,” Kidman, 56, explained during a panel discussing the show.

“Because it was so devastating when I saw his body … and I had the most awful reaction, which was I started to shake and laugh. And I’m like, ‘That’s what Margaret would be feeling.’ ”

The actress went on to describe the moment seeing her father, who died following a fall in 2014, as “very weird and strange” and praised Expats director Lulu Wang for including her real reaction in the show.

Kidman also shared her mother Janelle’s shocked reaction to her seeing her father. “… My mom looked at me and she actually had to slap my face and say, ‘Nicole, snap out of it,’ because I was so short-circuited in my brain,” she continued. “… She said, many times … ‘Snap out of it.’ ”

The Expats star added she was “so ashamed to talk about it, but at the same time I go, ‘But it’s real.’ And it’s based in the deepest love and not being able to handle a situation.”

Kidman’s father Anthony died at the age of 75 on Sept. 12, 2014. It was reported at the time that he passed away after a fall following a suspected heart attack at a hotel where he’d been staying in Singapore.

The clinical psychologist was survived by his wife Janelle and their two daughters, Kidman and her younger sister Antonia.

The decision to include Kidman’s real reaction on the show paid off as she shared how fans emotionally connected to the morgue scene. “So many people have come up to me subsequently and gone, ‘Yeah, I’ve had it,’ where you start to shake and instead of tears rolling, you are quivering with this weird laughter. It’s awful. Awful,” the Nine Perfect Strangers star said.

Expats, which is based on author Janice Y. K. Lee’s 2016 novel The Expatriates, takes place in Hong Kong in 2014 and “centers on three American women whose lives intersect after a sudden family tragedy,” according to a plot synopsis.
Along with Kidman, the series also stars Ji-young Yoo, Sarayu Blue, Brian Tee and Jack Huston. Lulu Wang, meanwhile, serves as the creator, writer and director.

Kidman’s attendance at Sunday’s Emmys FYC event comes a day after the actress was as honored at the 49th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala in Hollywood, California.
Expats is currently available to stream on Prime Video.