The Oscar winner played Celeste Wright, who was brutally beaten by her husband Perry (played by Alexander Skarsgard), in the shocking drama.
However, one scene in particular left the 49-year-old feeling “humiliated and devastated” and led her to lash out.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nicole recalled the moment her on-screen spouse attacked Celeste while she was in the bathroom in the dramatic finale.
The actress commented: “I remember lying on the floor in the last episode, being in my underwear and having just been really thrown around. I just lay on the floor.”
Nicole continued: “I couldn’t get up. I didn’t want to get up. And I remember Jean-Marc [Vallée, director] coming over and putting a towel over me in between the takes because I was just like…”
When the interviewer Oprah Winfrey offered “exposed”, the film star went on: “I just felt completely humiliated and devastated.
“I went home and I threw a rock through a glass door. I was obviously holding all that rage at what had been done.”
During the candid chat, her co-star Reese Witherspoon revealed how Nicole reached out after the incident.
The 41-year-old added: “We were staying at a hotel and she called me and she says, ‘I’ve just done the craziest thing’.
“She got home from work and she had one of these horrible scenes and she goes, ‘I couldn’t get into my hotel room so I threw a rock through the window.’ And she goes, ‘I don’t do stuff like that’.”