The first teaser trailer for Big Little Lies season 2 reunites the start-studded cast, as they reconvene in the wake of the death that marked the original series finale. After becoming a hit for HBO and then going on to win an inordinate amount of awards, including Emmys and Golden Globes, the limited series adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s novel suddenly became not-so limited after all. That the premium cabler was able to get the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Alexander Skarsgård, Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz and more was testament to the power and pull that prestige TV has nowadays, but that feat may have already been outdone with season 2 brining back not only the show’s central cast, but also multiple Academy Award-winner Meryl Streep.
Along with Streep, the series also brings in new talent behind the camera, as acclaimed filmmaker Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank, American Honey) steps in, replacing Jean-Marc Vallée (Sharp Objects) as the director of all seven episodes of the second season. Though some footage of Big Little Lies season 2 has been released by HBO — in the network’s big coming attractions teaser that touted not only Game of Thrones, but also Watchmen, Deadwood, Euphoria and more — there’s been little actual content that hints at what the story will entail.
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That’s all but taken care of with the new teaser trailer, which lays out what viewers can expect from the new season, which will head into uncharted territory now that it’s completed the story told in Moriarty’s original novel. Of course, original series writer David E. Kelley will be back to script the ongoing story of Madeline Mackenzie (Witherspoon), Celeste Wright (Kidman), Jane Chapman (Woodley) and the others, meaning the show shouldn’t deviate too much from what made it a hit to begin with, but it also means season 2 will have a very high bar to clear. Check out the first teaser trailer for Big Little Lies season 2 below:
The teaser re-establishes the series’ familiar look and feel, though it makes a point early on that the women have since gone on to earn something of a questionable reputation, along with the moniker “the Monterey Five,” a label that leads Woodley’s Jane to compare it to The Scarlet Letter. The idea that the women would be facing scrutiny from the insular community as well as from Streep’s character, Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Skarsgård’s abusive Perry Wright, is probably not too shocking considering how much of the first season was fueled by speculation and gossip from members of the community.
The teaser isn’t shy about playing up its impressive cast or the award-winning caliber of their performances. Though big-name stars aren’t necessarily the draw they once were at the movies, the same isn’t true of television, which can still offer a lot of bang for the movie star buck.
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Big Little Lies season 2 premieres Sunday, June 9 on HBO.
