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Nicole Kidman's quarantine exemption to film new TV show blasted

Aussie star Nicole Kidman has sparked anger among locals, after she was reportedly granted an exemption from Hong Kong's strict quarantine rules after arriving there last week to film a new TV show.

The Hollywood actress is in Hong Kong to film an Amazon television series called The Expats, and did not have to undertake the up to 21 days of mandated quarantine in a hotel for many travellers to the colony, even those who are vaccinated.

Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman is in Hong Kong to film an Amazon television series called The Expats. Photo: Getty

The city's government did not directly identify the 54-year old star in a statement, but said it had granted foreign overseas film personnel permission to skip quarantine for "the purpose of performing designated professional work".

Nicole had travelled to Hong Kong from a locked-down Sydney, but has been seen out shopping and filming in the city over the past week.

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A popular support group on Facebook for people quarantining in Hong Kong filled with angry comments about how many local and foreign residents have been unable to see relatives overseas for nearly two years because of the rules.

Elizabeth Quat, a local legislator, said she had "concerns over the quarantine exemption granted by the government to actress Nicole Kidman" and that she had "received quite a number of complaints from Hong Kong residents".

Others shared their anger on Twitter, with one person writing: "So we have HK residents who can't come back if not vaccinated (and even then with 2-3 weeks quarantine) but Nicole Kidman can just enter like this? It's disgusting!"

"Olympic medalists are required to quarantine in HK but Nicole Kidman doesn’t because she is a Hollywood star and needs to film EXPATS," another wrote.

Nicole has been based in Australia with her husband Keith Urban and their children for most of the coronavirus pandemic, where she recently shot her latest series, Nine Perfect Strangers, in Byron Bay.

Additional reporting by Reuters.

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