Getty Laura Dern attends the "Big Little Lies" Season 2 premiere.
Laura Dern is back as Renata Klein on Big Little Lies. The actress will be reprising her acclaimed role for season two, and like most of the cast members, she’s tried to keep the spoilers about Renata to a minimum. Fortunately, there have been some clues and hints as to where the character is headed next, and what season two has in store.
According to Deadline, Renata will be “faced with new challenges in her marriage” while training to maintain her calculated facade. Distractify adds that Renata will move her family to London, and apologize to Ziggy for being “not very nice.” After she leaves, however, one of the other gossipy moms tells the police that Renata’s husband had an affair with their nanny and that their marriage is essentially “kaput.”
Renata Will Face ‘New Challenges In Her Marriage’ During Season 2
Dern went on to tell Pure Wow that the character will be going through stark changes after the events of season one. “I’m not supposed to give an answer to that question or any question about what anybody’s doing,” she admitted. “But I think it’s fair to say that [given] where we left off, it’s now a group of women who have found a tribe to connect to, which is a huge deal for Renata, needless to say.”
Dern said that the death of Perry Wright led to Renata growing closer with the other characters. She’s bonded with her fellow moms to the point where she considers it to be a “tribe.” The Oscar winner added that its unusual for Renata to have “any friends”, let alone several female friends. Dern’s co-star Nicole Kidman revealed more about the character during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
There Will Be Flashbacks Featuring a Younger Version of Renata
“When you look at Renata, as well, you’re dealing with a woman who has an abundance and has spent her whole life building this empire to then have it crumble,” she explained. “In a different way, the story has really only begun because now you delve deeply into all of these women and the ramifications and the consequences of what’s happened.” Kidman quickly realized she was spoiling the character’s arc, and said, “I gave something away. Stay tuned!”
While the key plot points of season two have been kept under wraps, we will be seeing flashbacks for several main characters. A quick look at the IMDb cast list for each episode shows that there will actresses who play younger versions of Perry, Bonnie and Renata. As for Dern, she told AARP that she loves playing Renata, and hopes that she gets the chance to do so again.
“I thought it would be limited, and I’m so grateful that we got to do it again because I’m madly in love with Renata Klein,” she explained. “She’s just the most fantastic person, as she well knows. She’s an amazing character to play and find out more about, and we felt — just like the audiences who connected to it — that there was much more fun to be had.”