Nicole Kidman perfected her Being the Ricardos accent over Zoom

Nicole Kidman worked tirelessly with a dialect coach to master Lucille Ball’s accent for ‘Being the Ricardos'.

The 54-year-old actress has described her role in the film as her hardest one to date, explaining that she had the challenge of mastering Lucille’s accent as well as essentially playing two characters.

She told the ‘In the Envelope’ podcast: “A week in, I was like, 'Oh, whoah!' - I didn’t quite realize with her accent, her voice, what I was taking on. But I had the most gorgeous dialect coach who just was like ‘you’re going to be fine.’ They just walked me through it, sound by sound, step by step, over Zoom.

"I just worked on it vocally, which is very unusual for me, and then moved into her emotionally.”

The ‘Big Little Lies’ star was also tasked with playing Lucy Ricardo.

She explained: “It was two roles. Lucy Ricardo and Lucille Ball. The differences in the tone of voice, the differences in mannerisms, the differences in the performance, one’s a real woman - that’s when I went, 'Oh my gosh, this is rich and difficult and extraordinary'."

Though the process was “difficult” for Nicole, she was honored to take on the complex role. However, the award-winning actress was still “shocked” when she heard that director Aaron Sorkin wanted her for the part.

She elaborated: “The recreation of Lucy Ricardo was interesting … She had life behind her eyes. When she was doing that, there was another whole life to her.

"So that’s why it’s not mimicking her, it’s going into her … I could do the movements, choreography, but where’s the life? Her eyes sparkle, and there’s a reason that’s going on. It’s not robotic, it’s very, very alive … You have to find the life."