This is Streep’s first television role since 2003.
The powerhouse female cast of HBO’s Big Little Lies just got a pretty remarkable addition: Meryl Streep is joining the show for its second season.
Per Deadline, Streep has signed on to play Mary Louise Wright, who is the mother of Alexander Skarsgard’s violent and abusive character, Perry. She arrives in Monterey searching for answers, and concerned for the wellbeing of her grandchildren following Perry’s death in the season one finale. And considering (spoilers) all five of the show’s leading ladies had a hand in Perry’s death, this should be a pretty tense and fascinating dynamic to watch unfold.
This is Streep’s first television role since her Emmy-winning performance in Angels In America back in 2003, which was also an HBO production.
The second season of Big Little Lies was officially green-lighted with a seven-episode order last year, with stars and executive producers Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon both returning. Writer David E Kelley will also return to write the entire season, while Andrea Arnold is taking over as director from Jean-Marc Vallée. The rest of the original season’s cast, including Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern, are still in negotiations but expected to return. Production is due to begin in spring of this year.
Season two will explore the „malignancy of lies, the durability of friendships, the fragility of marriage and, of course, the vicious ferocity of sound parenting. Relationships will fray, loyalties will erode… the potential for emotional and bodily injury shall loom,“ according to HBO.
