‘Big Little Lies:’ Laura Dern’s Mom Thinks Her Daughter’s Character Is too Cruel to Reese Witherspoon

Laura Dern and Reese Witherspoon developed a friendship while working on the 2014 film “Wild” together, and are currently starring as high-class enemies on the HBO limited series “Big Little Lies.” But Dern has revealed that playing the antagonistic role has upset her mother, who loves Witherspoon’s charm.

READ MORE: ‘Big Little Lies’: Shailene Woodley on American Repression, Violence, and Why ‘Every Parent is Afraid of Their Kid’

Speaking to The New York Times, Dern revealed that her mother, the iconic actress Diane Ladd, was shaken by the performance.

“My mother called me—and she’s an actress—and goes, ‘You didn’t prepare me for what a bitch you are,’” she said. “I’m like, ‘I didn’t know I was supposed to prepare you for any character I play!’ And she said, ‘Yeah, but you’re a bitch to Reese.’”

Witherspoon’s mother was also disturbed by the show’s vitriol.

“My mother called me the other day — Laura, I didn’t tell you this — [she] was like: ‘I don’t like that show. I just don’t like it.’ She’s like: ‘You’re too mean. It just bothers me how mean you are,'” Witherspoon said in the same profile.

Watch a behind-the-scenes video from “Big Little Lies” below:

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