Just when you thought the cast of Big Little Lies couldn’t get better, the HBO series has added its biggest name yet.
Meryl Streep is set to join the all-star cast of the hit show as a series regular for the upcoming second season. The three-time Oscar winner will play the role of Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Alexander Skarsgaard’s deceased character Perry, according to TVLine.
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“Concerned for the well-being of her grandchildren following her son’s death, Mary Louise arrives in Monterey searching for answers,” said HBO. This will reunite Streep and Emmy Award winner Nicole Kidman, who plays Perry’s wife Celeste, who last co-starred in The Hours.
With Streep’s Big Little Lies storyline, HBO puts to rest the suspicions that Skarsgard’s Perry might’ve somehow survived that fatal fall in the Season 1 finale. Still, Skarsgard is expected to reprise his Emmy-winning role, most likely via flashbacks.
This is not Streep’s first foray into television. She starred in HBO’s 2003 adaptation of Angels of America, and also lent her voice to episodes of King of the Hill and The Simpsons.
Perry turned out to be the victim of the mysterious death that plagued the first season of the HBO series. The ladies of Monterey all had a part in his fall after the group realized he had been abusing Celeste and that he was Jane’s (Shailene Woodley) rapist, therefore Ziggy’s (Iain Armitage) father. After the confrontation, Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz) ended up giving the final push that led Perry to fall down the stairs and fatally injure his head.
Originally slated to be a one-season limited series, executive producers Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon (who also stars on the series as Madeline) announced a second season of the show would air on HBO in 2019.
Big Little Lies season 2 will consist of seven episodes, all of which will once again be penned by David E. Kelley (based on a story by Liane Moriarty, whose novel served as the source material for the first season).
Meanwhile, Jean-Marc Vallée is passing the directing baton to Andrea Arnold, although Vallée will stay on as an exec producer.
Production on Season 2 is scheduled to get underway in March ahead of a 2019 launch.
Photo: Getty / Kevin Winter
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