Nicole Kidman has defended her much talked-about kiss with actor Alexander Skarsgard at this year’s Emmy Awards, comparing Skarsgard to “a mannequin”.

The Australian actress was being interviewed on The Graham Norton Show this week when Norton put her in an awkward spot by showing a photo of the moment that set tongues wagging at the September awards show.

Kidman won a Best Actress Emmy for her performance in HBO’s Big Little Lies and celebrated by locking lips with Skarsgard, who played her husband on the show, as her real-life husband, Keith Urban, looked on.

Confronted with an image of the moment, Kidman immediately became bashful.

“Oh gosh. You are so provocative Graham. Why are you showing that?” she asked of the photo, which showed her and Skarsgard mid-embrace as Urban applauded in the background.

The photo that got Nicole Kidman all flustered. Photo: The Graham Norton Show

“It’s a lovely moment of celebration Nicole,” a Giggling Norton retorted.

“I kissed my husband too!” Kidman shot back.

Fellow guest Bryan Cranston, of Breaking Bad fame, joked that it looked as though Urban was “applauding the kiss”.

At that point, Kidman got defensive.

“I did kiss [Urban]. But you’ve got to understand I did everything with Alex [Skarsgard]!” she argued, referring to their graphic sex scenes on Big Little Lies.

“We saw it!” Norton responded, prompting laughter from the audience.

“Alright, I’m backing off,” Nicole said, raising her hands in surrender.

“I’ve got an amazing, supportive, gorgeous husband who I love more than anything in the world and I gave Alex a congratulatory kiss and he’s like a mannequin.”

At that, Norton and the panel of guests erupted into laughter and a blushing Nicole attempted to salvage the situation.

“I mean not a mannequin! I’m done,” she laughed.

On the show, Skarsgard played Kidman’s physically and emotionally abusive husband, and the pair shared several violent and sexually explicit scenes.

Kidman said filming the scenes left her feeling “very exposed and vulnerable and deeply humiliated at times”.

She revealed Urban would feel “emotionally protective” when she returned home bruised and battered from filming, but he “understood it was for work”.

Kidman was also very coy when telling Norton what Urban, 49, did for her 50th birthday celebrations.

“He did some fireworks and … other stuff,” she said, breaking out into laughter.

Kidman and Urban have been married for 11 years and have two children together.