It's good to know Nicole Kidman is willing to let herself go for a role.
She does just that in The Paperboy, the Lee Daniels-directed drama about a woman (Kidman) who enlists the help of a journalist (Matthew McConaughey) and his brother (Zac Efron) to try and get the killer (John Cusack) she's in love with off death row.
"I said to Nicole, 'Listen, if you can't do your own makeup on this, you can't do this movie because you don't know this character,'" Daniels says. "This chick is, well, she's trailer trash. When one thinks of Nicole Kidman, one doesn't think of that. I thought she'd go running for the hills, but she came back right at me."
She sure did. Kidman, 45, texted Daniels photos of herself in naughty lingerie in which she also did her own—yup!—makeup.
By now, most movie fans have heard about the scene in which Kidman urinates on Efron after his character is stung by a jellyfish.
"Nicole gets down and dirty," Daniels said. "But let me tell you what else she does, she sent the crew members champagne. She's in the trenches. She was at craft services helping out. She was one of the guys."
Daniels even says he and Kidman are already talking about what they can do next together.
As for Efron, Daniels acknowledges the 24-year-old actor wasn't on the top of his list when casting the movie.
"He wasn't my first choice," Daniels said. "I had this idea of this sweet kid, this Disney kid…But I pushed him and he went right with the wave. I think it's his best work without question. I think it's a Zac that we have never seen before."
Like being peed on by Kidman.
"Zac had a smile on his face," Daniels said. "If you really look carefully, you can see him smiling."
The Paperboy is in theaters Oct. 5.