bigger little lies

Big Little Lies: The Secret Weapon That Got Meryl Streep to Join the Cast

“It was the greatest thing on television, it really was,” Streep said in a candid panel conversation with her Big Little Lies costars at the Wing Soho.
meryl streep in big little lies season 2
Courtesy of HBO.

The cast of Big Little Lies—including Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Reese Witherspoon. and Meryl Streep—gathered Wednesday for a wide-ranging panel conversation at the Wing Soho moderated by Vanity Fair’s editor in chief, Radhika Jones, speaking at length about the show’s upcoming second season (set to premiere on June 9). Among the secrets they shared? How Streep was convinced to join the cast for the show’s sophomore round.

“My agent called me and said, ‘Nicole wanted to ask you something,’” Streep recalled. The offer was for a TV gig, which Streep was open to—and when she found out the role was on Big Little Lies, Streep gasped. As it turns out, the Oscar-winning actor was just as big a fan as anyone else of the hit HBO series, and was excited when she found out another season was in the works. She was even more shocked when she realized that the character she was being offered was named Mary Louise. Why? Because “Mary Louise is my actual legal name,” Streep noted. “So yeah, that’s how I got involved.”

The script was based on a novella written by original Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty, who wrote Mary Louise specifically for Streep. Though the author made it clear that she wanted Streep for the part, both Kidman and Witherspoon, who are also producers on the show, had no idea that “Mary Louise” was actually a sneaky, clever bat signal designed to lure in Streep. As it turned out, Moriarty didn’t even really need a trick up her sleeve; Streep was so keen to join the show that she essentially said yes on the spot.

“[My agent] said, ‘Don’t you want to read it [the script]?’ I said no,” Streep said—causing Witherspoon, seated beside her, to gasp dramatically. “It was the greatest thing on television, it really was. There isn’t a woman in this room who wouldn’t sign up.”

Judging by how packed the room was, with women taking up every seat and every inch of standing room in the Wing’s chicly designed space, Streep is right. Though the cast didn’t give too much away about the upcoming season, they did share a few plotty tidbits. Season two revolves largely around the aftermath of season one, which saw the women band together after Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz) fatally shoved the abusive Perry (Alexander Skarsgård) to his death. Streep plays Mary Louise, Perry’s mother, who comes into town to uncover the truth about her son’s murder.

Kidman, who plays Celeste, Perry’s now-widow, said the character’s journey after the death of her abuser will raise some eyebrows. “It will be controversial,” she said. She also teased Bonnie’s storyline, promising the character will go on “a very rich journey” this time around. Crystal Fox will play Elizabeth, Bonnie’s mother.

All the actors also raved about Shailene Woodley, who plays single mother Jane. “Shailene is just a miracle in this,” Streep said. “There’s a scene in episode two that’s just lights out,” Witherspoon added.

Witherspoon also highlighted that Dern’s character, the high-strung Renata, is angrier than ever this year. “Y’all, she gets so mad!” she teased.

Dern weighed in as well, noting that there is one key change in Renata’s life: “Now she has friends!”

The show will continue exploring the theme of domestic abuse and how it impacts each of the women’s lives. To that end, the Wing event was hosted in conjunction with National Network to End Domestic Violence, with items from Big Little Lies–themed capsule collections by brands Outdoor Voices, Lizzie Fortunato, and Cuyana for sale at the Wing’s fifth floor entrance.

During the conversation, the topic of men’s reaction to the show came up. All of the women noted how warm the response has been from the men in their lives, with Streep in particular noting how “remarkable” it is that the show forces men to watch something from a female point of view. To that point, Streep added, she’s not fond of the phrase “toxic masculinity.”

“I think the labels are less helpful than what we’re trying to get to, which is a communication, direct, between human beings,” she said. “We’re all in the boat together and you gotta make it work.”

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