Audiences have been given the first glimpse of Australian actress Nicole Kidman as forensic pathologist Scarpetta in the highly anticipated crime thriller of the same name.

The preview comes as Kidman gave her first comments this week as to how she is coping after her divorce from Keith Urban after two decades together.

Scarpetta is based on US author Patricia Cornwell’s popular series of books featuring Kay Scarpetta – which have sold more than 120 million copies worldwide – and sees Kidman star alongside fellow Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

The show will premiere on Prime Video from March 11 next year, and the streamer released the first images from the series on Wednesday (ADST).

The photos show a gloved-up Kidman in full medical examiner mode in the lab and at a crime scene, as well as in several scenes with Curtis, who plays Scarpetta’s sister Dorothy.

“With skilled hands and an unnerving eye, this unrelenting medical examiner is determined to serve as the voice of the victims, unmask a serial killer, and prove that her career-making case from 28 years prior isn’t also her undoing,” says Prime Video.

“Set against the backdrop of modern forensic investigation, the series delves beyond the crime scene to explore the psychological complexities of both perpetrators and investigators, creating a multi-layered thriller that examines the toll of pursuing justice at all costs.”

Jamie Lee Curtis and Nicole Kidman play sisters in Scarpetta. Photo: Prime Video

Developed by Emmy-nominated writer and executive producer Liz Sarnoff (Barry, Lost), Scarpetta unfolds over two timelines, from Kay Scarpetta’s beginnings as a chief medical examiner in the late ’90s to her present-day return to her American hometown.

As she investigates a “grisly murder”, she also has to navigate complicated relationships ­– including with Dorothy.

Scarpetta also stars Australian actor Simon Baker (The Mentalist) as FBI profiler Benton Wesley, Bobby Cannavale (The Irishman, Ant-Man) as Detective Pete Marino, and Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) as Scarpetta’s tech-savvy niece Lucy.

Kidman and Curtis are both executive producers of the series, with the Australian previously describing Cornwell’s books as “epic and thrilling”.

“I’ve been pursuing Scarpetta for nearly 20 years, going back to when it was intended to be a feature,” she said last year.

Kidman says she pursued the role of Scarpetta for many years. Photo: Prime Video

Kidman also reportedly insisted that she and Curtis played sisters in Scarpetta, telling E! News: “That woman is fierce. Her talent is abundant but she’s also just a woman’s woman… I can’t say enough lovely things about her.”

Post divorce update

Kidman’s career has kept her busy since her much-publicised split from Australian country music star Keith Urban two months ago.

The actress recently finished filming Practical Magic 2 with Sandra Bullock and has a string of other projects in track – including a new eight-part legal thriller, Discretion, in which she will star alongside Elle Fanning. It was also announced this month that she has signed on for US filmmaker Osgood Perkins’ upcoming horror movie The Young People.

Although she hasn’t spoken publicly about the end of her 19-year marriage, Kidman ­– who has two teenage daughters with Urban – had a wide-ranging conversation with singer and actor Ariana Grande on October 19 for Interview magazine.

In the published transcript, Kidman says she has just returned to Nashville. Asked by Grande how she is, the actress replies: “I’m hanging in there.”

She also talks about how much fun she had shooting the Practical Magic sequel over summer in London with Bullock and co-stars Joey King and Maisie Williams: “I have such a strong relationship with all those women, so I felt protected and loved. It was just very, very safe.”

The pair discuss how acting can be a way to access and channel emotions such as loss and joy.

“Who uses them is what I get really careful with now, because I kind of stay an open book,” Kidman says.

“I had a director say to me a few years ago, ‘Be careful, because you’re so raw and open and available. I just don’t want that ever abused or misused.’ And I was like, ‘No, no, I’m willing, I’m willing, I’m willing.’

“I now understand what she meant, so I try to be careful with that.”