Laura Dern, Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman. (Instagram/Reese Witherspoon)
Reese Witherspoon posted an Instagram photo with her Big Little Lies co-stars that has us wondering if the show wasn’t as “limited” as advertised. She posted a photo with Nicole Kidman and Laura Dern, telling everyone that she’s “working on some new lies.”
The full caption for the photo read, “Spending #SundayFunday with these ladies … working on some new lies.” She also included emojis of monkeys covering their ears, eyes and mouth.
Despite earning critical acclaim, Big Little Lies was expected to be a single, seven-episode limited series. It is based on the book by Liane Moriarty, which was originally set in Australia. For the series, the plot and characters were moved to Monterey, California. Jean-Marc Vellee, Dern and Witherspoon’s director for Wild, directed every episode and prolific TV writer David E. Kelley wrote the script.
Recently, there has been more comments from the cast about a potential season two, although they only want to do it if Moriarty approves. She previously OK’d their decision to move the plot to the U.S.
“One of the main questions everyone keeps asking us is is there going to be a season two,” Witherspoon told InStyle. “We’ve been talking with the writer, and you guys should Facebook Liane Moriarty and tell her how much you want to see Big Little Lies 2. That would be good. She’s thinking about ideas, and so we would love to hear ideas.”
Then, just like that, on April 11, Moriarty told the Sydney Morning-Herald that she has an idea for a second season. She said the show was “more faithful than I expected it to be,” despite the new locale.
“I have started to think about ways this could continue,” Moriarty told the Morning-Herald. “The producers have asked me to see if I can come up with some ideas. I wouldn’t write a new book but perhaps a new story and then we’ll see what happens.”
She added that she’s “absolutely open to” a second season and she’s got ideas.
“The obvious thing is, first of all, I think we could bring in more of Bonnie’s story from the book,” she told the Morning-Herald. “And also what happens next [for Celeste]. That’s the question that’s also a really interesting thing, when you’ve been through a relationship like that, how do you feel now? How would she feel? She’s grieving. She’s still grieving for the end of a terrible relationship and I think that would be a really interesting thing to explore. So there’s a whole lot of different storylines.”
The series centered on three women – played by Witherspoon, Kidman and Shailene Woodley – who were bought together by a murder, their children all going to the same school and a collection of dark secrets. Madeline (Witherspoon) is an uptight mother married to her second husband, but had an affair with the director of a community play. Celeste (Kidman) is married to a successful younger man who abuses her. And Jane (Woodley) is a single mom whose son is a child of rape. Other members of the cast included Adam Scott, Alexander Skarsgard, Lara Dern, Zoe Kravitz, Adam Scott, Jeffrey Nordling and James Tupper.