It’s no big little lie that Big Little Lies has proven to be a success for HBO. The mini-series, based off the novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty, collected a number of coveted nominations and wins last year (including scooping the Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series, Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie or Special, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for Nicole Kidman and 5 other Emmys, not to mention 3 Golden Globe wins). All the while a hit with viewers, HBO is taking Big Little Lies to Season 2, with some old and new faces.
This week, it was announced that Kathryn Newton (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Sarah Sokolovic (Showtime’s Homeland), Robin Weigert (HBO’s Deadwood) and Merrin Dungey (ABC’s Alias) are set to return, according to Deadline.
For fans of the dramatic series, this means the return of show regulars Abigail Carlson and Tori Bachman and recurring characters Dr. Amanda Reisman and Detective Adrienne Quinlan, respectively. In addition, the show has added Crystal Fox (OWN’s Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have Nots) and Mo McRae (Den of Thieves) to the cast. Fox will play series regular Elizabeth Howard, while McRae will play recurring character Michael Perkins, according to the report.
The duo joins Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) and Douglas Smith (TNT’s The Alienist) as newbies for Season 2. Streep will play Mary Louise Wright (the mother of Alexander Skarsgård’s Perry Wright), while Smith will portray Corey Brockfield.
Earlier it was reported that the show’s three main stars – Kidman (Celeste Wright), Reese Witherspoon (Madeline Martha Mackenzie) and Shailene Woodley (Jane Chapman) – will reprise their roles. In addition, the HBO series has secured Adam Scott as Ed MacKenzie, Laura Dern as Renata Klein and Zoë Kravitz as Bonnie Carlson. It has not yet been announced whether or not Skarsgård will return.
Big Littlie Lies Season 2 does not have an official premiere date yet, but HBO has confirmed it won’t be until after 2018, according to Cosmopolitan. The seven-episode season is expected to be based off a new story by novel author Moriarty, according to the report.
But the show will have a new director in Andrea Arnold, who has directed episodes of Amazon’s Transparent and I Love Dick. Season 1 director Jean-Marc Vallée has stated that “if we do a Season 2, we’ll break [a] beautiful thing and spoil it,” as per Cosmopolitan.