Nicole Kidman says Meryl Streep has "raised the bar" on 'Big Little Lies'.

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman

The 51-year-old actress admitted having the 69-year-old screen legend join the cast for the second season of the drama "elevated" the entire series and everyone loved watching her work.

She told Britain's HELLO! magazine: "Meryl is just amazing. To watch her do her craft - and it really is artistic craft - we all just went 'Can you believe it?'

"It raises the bar for everyone. I think she elevates the show. We have meaty really great scenes. It was fun watching her enthusiasm for work still.

"She has a fantastic character. It's grounded and it's based in something very, very real. "

The show - which also stars Laura Dern, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley and Zoë Kravitz - follows a group of emotionally troubled women in Monterey, California, who become embroiled in a murder investigation and Meryl will play Mary Louise Wright, the mother-in-law of Celeste (Kidman), who is out to find just how her son Perry died.

The 'Destroyer' star - who produces the series alongside Reese - explained that although she wasn't initially thinking of continuing the show after the first season, the overwhelmingly positive reaction from both fans and her own friends and family inspired her to create a new season.

She said: "It was through sheer enthusiasm from the fans and my mother saying 'It's too short' that made us realise we had to do more.

"It's amazing to have the fans and the audiences react in the way that they have is incredible. That's why we had to scramble together to get this second series together. Because of the audience's desire."