Nicole Kidman pushed for Asher Keddie to play Heather in 'Nine Perfect Strangers' after American financiers said she was too 'unknown'

• Nicole Kidman said American investors were reluctant to cast Asher Keddie in "Nine Perfect Strangers."
• The financiers viewed Keddie, an Australian actress, as an "unknown," Kidman told Marie Claire.
• Kidman, an executive producer and star, pushed back and championed Keddie to play Heather Marconi.

On Hulu's "Nine Perfect Strangers," Russian wellness guru Masha Dmitrichenko carefully selects the guests staying at Tranquillum House for a transformative 10-day health retreat. Nicole Kidman, like her character Masha, had her own hand in curating the group.

Kidman, whose production company Blossom Films acquired the film and TV rights to Liane Moriarty's novel in 2018, pushed for Asher Keddie to play Heather Marconi after American financiers repudiated the suggestion of casting "an unknown," she recalled in Marie Claire's 25th birthday issue.

"When you get to this point in your career, it becomes your greatest joy," the Oscar winner, who also served as an executive producer on David E. Kelley's series, said of using Blossom Films to champion local women's talent.

She continued, "Part of my mission is to give chances to creatives, women especially, who haven't really had the opportunity; it's my greatest thrill."

Keddie wasn't exactly new to the TV circuit when she auditioned for "Nine Perfect Strangers."

The Melbourne-born star, 47, has predominantly acted in Australian productions, save a brief appearance in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." Her most notable role as Nina Proudman on the Australian comedy-drama "Offspring" has landed her seven Logie Awards, including the prestigious Gold Logie. Over the years, she had met Kidman, a fellow Australian, "a couple times," she told The Sydney Morning Herald.

When Keddie auditioned to play Heather, a mother that checks into Tranquillum House with her husband (Michael Shannon) and daughter (Grace Van Patton) on the three-year anniversary of her son's suicide, the actress was already familiar with Moriarty's writing. Out of all the author's complex characters, Heather stood out to Keddie.

And after securing the part, she felt both "thrilled" and "frightened" to put herself in the grieving mother's shoes.

"I felt afraid of really diving into the kind of grief of having lost a child to suicide," she explained, later adding that Heather's loss was "unimaginable" to her as a mother of two young sons.

After shooting the eight-part series alongside a star-studded, international cast in Byron Bay during the pandemic, Keddie said she aspires to continue expanding the scope of her work.

"I would like to work anywhere, whether it is the US, the UK, Canada, or Europe," she told The Sydney Morning Herald.

She added, "What I'm hoping for is that the next 10 years feels really rich in terms of work and life and that's me being able to travel again, like all of us. For my children to be able to explore the world. For it not to feel small."