Meryl Streep addressed her highly-anticipated role in Big Little Lies Season 2 for the first time during an appearance at the Television Critics Association press tour on Friday, teasing her character’s place on the show and what made her join the cast in the first place. “I loved this show, I was addicted to it,” Streep said of Season 1. “I thought it was an amazing exercise in what we know and what we don’t know about people, about family, about friends, how it flirted with the mystery of things. What was unsaid, unshown, unknown, was the gravitational pull of the piece. It was so exciting. When I got the chance to join the crew, I thought ‘Yeah!’ I wanted to be in that world. The world that was created was amazing.” Streep will play Mary Louise Wright, mother of the late Perry Wright (Alexander Skarsgård) and mother-in-law of Celeste (Nicole Kidman). “The dynamic between Celeste and me … Hmmm! I do love [Nicole], and I do love her. That’s the only thing I’ll tell you about my character,” Streep teased. She appeared at the TCA panel alongside BLL creator/write David E. Kelley and co-stars Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Zoe Kravitz, Shailene Woodley, and Laura Dern. Pictures from the TCA have been added to the photo gallery.

Big Little Lies may not be returning for Season 2 until 2019, but there is some consolation — the first official footage of Meryl Streep in Big Little Lies is here, and it’s already proving worth the wait. The iconic actor appeared for just a second or two in a new HBO promo video that was released Sunday, but even just that one glimpse is an embarrassment of riches. The promo was, unfortunately, not a Big Little Lies teaser, but rather one for all of HBO original shows, crowded with teasers from True Detective, Veep, and even Game of Thrones. But somehow Streep stood out anyway, holding her own even against the sneak peek of Daenery Targaryen and her dragons from the final season of Game of Thrones. It’s a hard field to stand out in, but it should be no surprise that Streep is managing it, even with only a brief blip of screen time. It was previously announced that the 69-year-old would be brought onto Big Little Lies Season 2 to playing Mary Louise Wright, mother to Alexander Skarsgård’s character Perry, and thus mother-in-law to Nicole Kidman’s character Celeste. And while exact plot details aren’t yet known, The Hollywood Reporter claimed that Mary Louise is in town to check in on her grandchildren and get some answers about what happened to her son. It’s a reasonable motivation that should make total sense to anyone who remembers the events of BLL’s Season 1 finale. More bits by Bustle with thanks to everybody for the heads-up!

Filming for season two of Big Little Lies wrapped earlier this week and the star-studded cast took to Instagram to celebrate. In honour of the momentous occasion, Nicole Kidman wrote: “That’s a wrap on #BigLittleLies Season 2 filming! What a beautiful journey this has been with my Monterey 5 sisters and our passionate dedicated crew. Thank you HBO for the amazing opportunity and thank you Andrea Arnold for being our fearless leader, and of course the one and only Meryl Streep for believing in us. I love you all. xx” Meanwhile, Reese Witherspoon – who plays the role of Madeline Mackenzie – teased fans of the HBO series with a series of behind-the-scenes snaps. Below the throwback collage, Witherspoon paid tribute to her fellow cast members in a touching caption which read: “Feeling so grateful to my #BigLittleLies family on our last day of shooting Season 2! You have all inspired me, supported me, made me laugh & cry. Making the second season even more exciting than the last (I can’t wait for y’all to see it!!) Thank you @HBO and our amazing Director Andrea Arnold! Big love to my sisters.” Arnold took the artistic helm after Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée – who directed season one – was tied up with other work commitments. It has yet to be confirmed when season two of the Golden Globe-winning series will grace our screens but it is estimated to land in 2019. However, HBO’s president of programming, Casey Bloys, told Vulture that “it wouldn’t be impossible to get on in 2018.”

The headline, borrowed from Entertainment Weekly, is a bit misleading as it makes you think of Meryl Streep begging Mr. Kelley to be on his show, so let’s focus on his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, in which he spills the beans on the second season of “Big Little Lies” and Streep’s involvement: What did it take David E. Kelley to be convinced that a second season of Big Little Lies could work? An actress you might have heard of named Meryl Streep. Like many, the writer of HBO’s Emmy juggernaut thought it was best to leave the series as it was originally intended. “I didn’t think it was a very good idea,” Kelley told The Hollywood Reporter. “We wrote it as a one-off and we ended it in a way that was very lyrical. But we ended on a lie. I get so protective of characters and series, too, that I don’t want to damage them in any way, and I so loved how we ended year one and I thought, ‘Let’s just leave it at that.’” And yet, Kelley, along with Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and the rest of the powerhouse cast, is back for the seven-episode second season, which is expected to premiere in 2019. So why the change of heart? “A multitude of forces, but mainly it came down to a creative analysis,” said Kelley. “[Big Little Lies author] Liane [Moriarty] wrote a novella of [new] stories, and most of them we’re using. But the genius one was introducing this character who’s being played by Meryl Streep. It’s a delicious character and I felt bringing her in was both liberating and daunting. Daunting because she sets a high bar and you have to measure up, but liberating in that now the show’s not going to be compared to last year. There was freedom in that.”

Nicole Kidman has shared a first look at her and Meryl Streep during the second season filming of “Big Little Lies”. As previously reported, Streep is joining the cast as Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Alexander Skarsgard’s deceased character Perry (and the mother-in-law of Kidman’s widow Celeste). “First day on the set with Meryl and my darling boys,” Kidman wrote on Instagram. In announcing Streep’s hiring back in January, HBO released this teaser for her character: “Concerned for the well-being of her grandchildren following her son’s death, Mary Louise arrives in Monterey searching for answers.” Big Little Lies‘ seven-episode “sequel” is slated to bow in early 2019. The image can be found in full resolution in the photo gallery.

Fans will have to wait until 2019 to return to Monterey, but the cast of Big Little Lies doesn’t have to wait that long. They start filming the new season next week, Reese Witherspoon revealed during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers last night, according to Bazaar. “Y’all we’re starting next Friday on Big Little Lies 2, I can’t believe it,” Witherspoon said. “Not only do we have every cast member coming back, but also Meryl Streep is joining us.” HBO previously announced that Steep would be joining the cast as Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Perry White, played by Alexander Skarsgard in Season 2. Witherspoon also shared her reaction when she found out she would be working with the acting legend. “Well, she sent an email to Nicole and I, and it said, ‘Okay, I read the part and I love it and I’m going to do it.’ And I, like, dropped the phone,” she said. “And then I called Nicole [Kidman] and was like, ‘Is this real life? Like is this really happening?'” Witherspoon said she also hugged herself gently for a moment before calling the show’s writer, David E. Kelley, and jokingly telling him, “you better write me good scenes with Meryl Streep.”

Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty has revealed how Oscar-winner Meryl Streep joined the cast of the hit drama’s second series. Sydney-based Moriarty said she wrote the role – of Nicole Kidman’s mother-in-law, Mary Louise Wright – with Streep in mind, and Kidman played a huge role in securing the Hollywood icon. “I was about half way through (writing) 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 said. “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,” Moriarty said. The Australian author — who penned the book Big Little Lies on which the HBO series was based — named the character “Mary Louise” after Streep and said Kidman was instrumental to Streep joining the cast. “Nicole sent me an email saying, ‘ask and you shall receive,’” Moriarty said. Moriarty said Streep’s character was a “significant role”. Mary Louise (Streep) is the mother of Perry (Alexander Skarsgard), who was married to Celeste (Kidman), and was murdered at the end of season one. “She deeply loved her son … as much as any mother can love her son,” Moriarty said, adding Streep’s character was “deeply grieving” . “She had a slightly fraught relationship with her daughter-in-law, so it’s a very complicated, difficult time. “When I was writing it, I was calling her ‘Meryl’. But then I thought Meryl didn’t suit the character. “So I looked up to see what Meryl’s middle name was and then I saw that, actually, her real name is Mary Louise. And Mary Louise fits the character perfectly.” HBO previously announced that “most” of the cast from season one would return for the seven-episode second season, including Kidman and Reese Witherspoon as executive producers. Production on the second season is due to begin in March and the series will air in 2019.

Spoilers ahead in this unexpected news from today: Meryl Streep is joining Big Little Lies‘ forthcoming second season as a series regular, TVLine has learned. The three-time Oscar winner will play Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Alexander Skarsgard’s deceased character Perry. “Concerned for the well-being of her grandchildren following her son’s death, Mary Louise arrives in Monterey searching for answers,” per HBO. Translation: Expect some explosive scenes between Streep and recent Emmy winner Nicole Kidman. In teasing Streep’s Big Little Lies storyline, HBO puts to rest speculation that Skarsgard’s Perry might’ve somehow survived that fatal fall in the Season 1 finale. Still, As TVLine reported earlier this week, Skarsgard is expected to reprise his Emmy-winning role, most likely via flashbacks. Big Little Lies Season 2 will consist of seven episodes, all of which will once again be penned by David E. Kelley (based on a story by Liane Moriarty, whose novel served as the source material for Season 1). Meanwhile, Jean-Marc Vallée is passing the directing baton to Andrea Arnold, although Vallée will stay on as an exec producer. Production on Season 2 is scheduled to get underway in March ahead of a 2019 launch. Thanks to everybody for the heads-up.