It’s official – Big Little Lies will be renewed for a second season, and fans are beyond excited to see what’s come in the surprise sequel. The Golden Globe and Emmy winning drama series was intended to be a one-season limited series, but the show was such a success that HBO decided make a second season.
Most of the main cast from season one will be returning. Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon will again executive produce in addition to starring. Shailene Woodley and Zoe Kravitz are also expected to return. TVLine learned exclusively that Alexander Skarsgard will even be returning to the series. Despite his character (Perry Wright) seemingly having died in the first season, Skarsgard will reportedly be back “in some capacity.” This may be through flashback, or there might even be more ambiguity to the character’s fate… When asked about his potential involvement in season two, Skarsgard revealed to People.com, “I don’t even know if I’m really dead or not.” Fans will just have to wait and see.
There will also be new characters introduced in season two. Scoring one of the biggest movie icons in Hollywood, Meryl Streep will be joining the cast in season two, adding more woman power to the Nicole Kidman-Reese Witherspoon drama. After receiving an Oscar nomination for her leading role in Steven Spielberg’s “The Post,” the three-time Oscar winner broke her own record for the most Oscar acting nominations, bringing her total number to 21. According to Deadline, Meryl will play Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Perry Wright. She will arrive in Monterey concerned for the wellbeing of her grandchildren and searching for answers after Perry’s death in the season one finale.
While season one was based on the novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty, season two will be based partially on a new story by the author David E. Kelley, who wrote and executive produced season one. British director Andrea Arnold will be directing all seven episodes of the new season. The second series will explore previously untold stories of the Big Little Lies protagonists, delving deeper into the lives of the Monterey families.
There is no confirmed release date, but it has been suggested that the second series won’t air until 2019. However, HBO’s president of programming, Casey Ploys shares with Vulture, “It wouldn’t be impossible to get on in 2018.”