Nicole Kidman pushed through a brutal bout of flu to film a pro-wrestling scene for ‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles,’ then had to be taken to the hospital afterward.
The 58-year-old Oscar winner plays Lace, a pro wrestler, in the Apple TV+ comedy. Her co-star Nick Offerman, who plays the flashy wrestling character Jinx, said Kidman was seriously ill on the day they had to shoot a major ring scene for the April 22 episode.
According to Offerman, the production had built the entire day around the wrestling sequence. Then word came in that Kidman might not make it.
Nicole Kidman Showed Up Despite Being ‘So Sick’
Offerman said the cast and crew were already preparing for the scene when they heard Kidman had the flu. “We’re there in the morning, we’re getting warmed up,” Offerman said, explaining that some actors were set to perform actual wrestling with doubles and trainers on hand.
Then came the update. “And the word comes in that Nicole has the flu, and we might not get Nicole today,” he said. “And we’re like, ‘Oh no, that’s such a bummer, because we only have the one day that we’ve built this whole circus for.’”
Kidman, who is also an executive producer on the series, did not stay home. “It’s about 8:00 in the morning that we get this news,” Offerman said. “Come to be about 11:00 a.m., the word comes in: Nicole’s coming.”
When she arrived, Offerman said the ‘Big Little Lies’ star looked visibly unwell. “She was so pale, shaken,” he said. “She just had the flu really so bad.”
Nick Offerman Says Kidman Was Taken To Hospital
Despite her condition, Kidman filmed the scene. Offerman said she “showed up and made sure that we got every shot of her,” calling the effort “total superhero style.” The physical work came at a cost. After the shoot, Kidman “was literally taken to the hospital for an IV,” Offerman said.
The ‘Parks and Recreation’ alum said the moment changed how he saw her work ethic. “I already admired you so much, but this is how you get to be Nicole Kidman, is you show up so that your show doesn’t lose a minute of your value,” he recalled telling her. He added, “It was so generous. It was astonishing.”
Kidman has admitted the wrestling scene made her nervous for a different reason too. “When I got in the ring, I just went, ‘OK, let’s go,’” she said earlier this month. “‘Cause whenever I do something, I go, ‘OK, I’ve gotta be really careful,’ and then I just forget about any sort of protection in my body, and I go crazy.”
‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles’ Has A Stacked Cast
Kidman has spoken before about the work ethic that shaped her career.
“I came from an industry that’s small and was fighting to survive, the Australian film industry,” she told The New York Times in 2020. She added, “My whole attitude was get out there and work. There’s no chance of being selective because you’ve got to make money. I didn’t come from an affluent family. It was always about being a working actor.”
‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles’ also stars Elle Fanning as Margo, an aspiring writer who becomes pregnant and needs to figure out how to pay her bills. The cast includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Greg Kinnear, and Marcia Gay Harden. The Apple TV+ series was created by David E. Kelley and is based on Rufi Thorpe’s novel of the same name.
For Kidman, the wrestling scene became more than another acting challenge. It became another example of how far she is willing to push herself, even when her body is clearly saying no.
