The actress and producer talks to ET about teaming up with the 'Yellowstone' creator for the new Paramount+ CIA drama.
Nicole Kidman is diving into "new territory" with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan's latest Paramount+ series, Special Ops: Lioness.
Inspired by a real-life U.S. military program, the series follows the life of Joe (Zoe Saldaña) while she attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA's spear in the war on terror. The Lioness Program, overseen by Kaitlyn Meade (Kidman) and Donald Westfield (Michael Kelly), enlists an aggressive Marine Raider named Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) to operate undercover alongside Joe among the power brokers of state terrorism in the CIA's efforts to thwart the next 9/11.
Kidman initially joined the project solely as an executive producer, but later agreed to take on a major role in the series in front of the camera after Sheridan tailored the character of Kaitlyn for her.
"We loved [Yellowstone]. Loved it, watched it, ate it up but [I] was a huge fan of Taylor's film work in terms of Sicario, Hell or High Water and so it was really exciting when he said, 'I really want to do this with you as a producer.' And then he said, 'I can write you something that will be a supporting role... but you'll be pivotal,'" the 56-year-old actress told ET at the London premiere of Special Ops: Lioness on Tuesday.
"I really wanted to say his dialogue and I really wanted to be a part of it because of Zoe and Laysla [De Oliveira] and I've never done anything that was about the CIA or espionage," Kidman continued. "There’s such a muscularity with this show so that was new territory for me and exciting. I'm always looking for different ground to explore and be a part of and also to help propel -- at this stage in my career and life -- other women to the forefront. To throw my support behind because I really feel like when you have a bit of power you have to share it, transfer it, use it in a positive way."
Because of the many masks that the characters wear in Lioness by way of the circumstances of their jobs, Kidman ruminated on how she'd fare as a real-life undercover agent after decades of putting on literal and figurative masks for her many film and TV roles.
"I didn't choose it as a career, I'll put it that way," Kidman said with a laugh. "I'd be pretty crap at it. As an actor, we live on our emotions. That's what we use. That's what we need and a lot of times we have to keep them completely available and sometimes not in check, whereas when you're in this situation working undercover in the CIA, you have to keep those emotions in check. You have to be able to compartmentalize and you have to be able to just look forward and not think back and deliberate and emotionally respond so that was actually what intrigued me about playing this because it was moving into a psychological state that's not my natural state."
She also briefly spoke about returning to the world of Nine Perfect Strangers, which Hulu recently greenlit for a second season. Kidman will return to reprise her role as mysterious self-help guru Masha. The resort drama explores what happens when disparate lives suddenly clash and overlap in unexpected ways while all staying at a boutique resort.
"Really excited because, once again produced that, and to have David E. Kelley on board and have an amazing cast, [I] just went, 'This feels right,' because it’s so of now and when you look back at the first season, you go, 'Oh my gosh.' It was, in some ways, ahead of its time for all of what’s being done now with psilocybin and MDMA and [author] Liane Moriarty was always one step ahead with her storytelling."
Special Ops: Lioness premieres Sunday, July 23 on Paramount+.
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