Meryl Streep Is Joining the Cast of ‘Big Little Lies’ Season 2, and We Have Nicole Kidman to Thank

“Big Little Lies” was so good that news of a second season was greeted with not just excitement but fear — how could a continuation of the miniseries live up to such a high standard? Those worries have been alleviated somewhat by the news that Meryl Streep will be joining the show as Mary Louise Wright, mother to Perry (Alexander Skarsgård). Now Liane Moriarty, who wrote the original novel and is also penning the current season, says we have Nicole Kidman to thank for Streep joining the show.

“I was about halfway through [writing Season 2] and I was talking to the producers and I said, ‘I’ve got this role of Perry’s mother and’ … not quite believing my own audacity, ‘I’d like Meryl to play this character,’” Moriarty told Australia’s Daily Telegraph. “And the producers were laughing at me because they were saying, ‘You’ve become so Hollywood,’ as in, picking up the phone and saying, ‘Get me Meryl.’ They were teasing me … but then they were saying, ‘It’s not beyond the realm of possibilities because Nicole and Meryl are friends.’”

Kidman was game: “Nicole sent me an email saying, ‘Ask and you shall receive,’” Moriarty added.

Per a casting breakdown, we know that Mary is “concerned for the well-being of her grandchildren following her son Perry’s death”; if she’s anything like her son, that concern will manifest violently.