Nicole Kidman Admits to Feeling ‘Exposed and Vulnerable’ Filming Masturbation Scenes in ‘Babygirl’

Nicole Kidman went to a deep and sometimes scary place for her new erotic thriller Babygirl, where she had several masturbation scenes.

The actress, 57, revealed she had a intimacy coordinator and closed set for her sex scenes in the film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday, August 29.

“I think this film is obviously yes about sex, but it’s about desire it’s about your inner thoughts, it’s about secrets, it’s about marriage, it’s about truth, power, consent,” Nicole told reporters ahead of the film’s screening, adding how having a female director helped her through the more challenging scenes.

“This is one woman’s story, and this is I hope a very liberating story. It’s told by a woman through her gaze. It’s Halina (Reijn‘s) script, she wrote it and she directs and that made it unique, that suddenly I was going to be in the hands of a woman with this material. It was very dear to our shared instincts and very, very freeing,” the Big Little Lies star explained.

Nicole said she felt, “exposed and vulnerable and frightened when it comes to giving it to the world” in her masturbation scenes, but that her overall experience on the film had been “delicate and intimate and very deep.”

She said of Halina, “I knew she wasn’t going to exploit me. However anyone interprets that, I didn’t feel exploited. I felt very much a part of that. There was enormous caretaking by all of us, we were all very gentle with each other and helped each other. It felt very authentic, protected and, at the same time, real.”

In Babygirl, Nicole has some of her most explicit sex scenes since her 1999 erotic thriller Eyes Wide Shut, which costarred her ex-husband, Tom Cruise.

The Oscar winner plays Romy, a high-powered tech CEO who risks her marriage family life for a torrid affair with a younger intern, played by Harris Dickinson.

The film opens with Romy having sex with her husband, played by Antonio Banderas. After faking an orgasm, she goes off the masturbate to pornography in order to satisfy herself.

The Hawaii-born star admitted this was one of her most daring roles ahead of the Venice Film Festival, and that she was nervous to see it play in front of audiences.

“There’s something in me going: ‘OK, this was made for the big screen and to be seen with people. I’m not sure I have that much bravery,” Nicole told Vanity Fair on Monday, August 26.

She continued, “It’s like, golly, I’m doing this, and it’s actually now going to be seen by the world. That’s a very weird feeling.”

Nicole’s “bravery” paid off, as the film got a seven-minute plus standing ovation from the audience after it screened at the festival.

The Hollywood Reporter said one audience member cheered to the actress as she left the Palazzo del Cinema, “You nailed it! Slayed it! Erotic thriller slay!”

The film also received rave reviews. The Daily Beast wrote, “Babygirl is the kind of movie that makes going to festivals such a thrill — it’s unexpected, shocking, and hilarious. One of the best films of the year.”