Big Little Lies – Kidman, Witherspoon, Woodley Are Back for Season 2

Big Little Lie Returns  to Monterey for filming and our Screen for a Second Season

The HBO hit series Big Little Lies’s season 2 is confirmed.  Director Jean-Marc Vallée is stepping down as the director but staying onboard with a producer role. Andrea Arnold (Transparent) is stepping in as Director of Big Little Lies, filmed in the California Central Coast town of Monterey.

 HBO promises an early 2018 start for a second season of the Emmy-award winning female-powered series, and now directed by a woman, that includes Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Zoe Kravitz, who are all expected to return for the encore. There’s talk of an Adam Scott return to the show but no confirmation so far. Scott, a Santa Cruz native knows the Monterey region too well and was sighted shopping downtown Santa Cruz this past week. Perhaps settling back home for the start of the shoot? And considering how the first season storyline ended, we see no reasons for him not to be part of the second season.

Big Little Lies INSIDE S1: Inside

“It gives us the opportunity to delve deeper into the lives of these intriguing and intricate Monterey families and bring more of their stories back to the audience who embraced and championed them,” Witherspoon said in a statement.

“I’m beyond excited to be working with talented and acclaimed director Andrea Arnold who will be at the helm. Andrea’s unique storytelling style will be a welcome addition to the filmmaking team.”

Reese Witherspoon Madeline Martha Mackenzie Nicole Kidman Celeste Wright Shailene Woodley Jane Chapman
Reese Witherspoon as Madeline Martha Mackenzie, Nicole Kidman as Celeste Wright, Shailene Woodley as Jane Chapman

Andrea Arnold – New Director

David E. Kelly remains executive producer and sole writer.   Andrea Arnold who last year enchanted audience and critics alike with the film ” American Honey, an exploration of mother-daughter relationship, will direct the show’s seven-episode second season. Arnold has big shoes to fill following in the footsteps of Jean-Marc Vallée with all of its splendid French-Canadian sensitivity.  But looking at her body of work, we’re sure that she’s up for the task and will deliver.

Big Little Lies Season 1 was Based on Liane Moriarity’s Bestselling Book.

Winner of eight Emmys for its first season, the show based on Liane Moriarity’s bestselling book was not a sure thing for a comeback since Moriarity did not write a sequel. But the public and critical acclaim and the desire of the cast to return were too strong to resist. It will be interesting to see if David E. Kelly’s creative chops can take Moriarity’s characters into a direction that feels true without her novel for guidance. Moriarity is set to serve an advisory role but will not be involved with the writing.

At the time of publishing, we hadn’t heard back from HBO and Moriarity’s publicist. If new information is provided, we will update the story.


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