Manuel here starting our Monday with the best of news. "Who knows what lies there beneath the surface?" Reese Witherspoon asks us in the first trailer for her latest collaboration with her Wild director, Jean-Marc Vallée. Yes we finally get our first look at Big Little Lies, the HBO miniseries based on Liane Moriarty's best-selling novel (which I devoured in one day; it is that addictive and appropriately sudsy).
The project is a smorgasbord for us actressexuals with Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz, and Shailene Woodley joining Reese in this suburban mommy thriller. As the trailer suggests, we'll be introduced to an idyllic seaside suburban enclave where certain revelations (it's best not to spoil, and thankfully the teaser doesn't really) send shockwaves throughout the community, leading to a violent, murderous end. It'll be a fine tonal balancing act but the show, written by David E. Kelley looks like it might just pull it off...
We won't do a full Yes/No/Maybe So since this is just as tease (and because we're all caps YES, but let's highlight the best shot of each actress because if nothing else, Vallée's miniseries is sure to make next year's Actress In A Mini-Series category at the Emmys, Golden Globes, and SAG one to watch.
Who knew we'd grow so fond of tortured Reese?
Nicole-as-Audrey Hepburn (courtesy of the story's costume party) is a thing I didn't know I needed until this morning.
Laura Dern seems intent on refusing the "older actress" roles that would neuter her allure (see also: Certain Women). Good for her.
Do you "get" Shailene? I don't but perhaps her A-list co-stars will step up her game. Also, she plays the newcomer that wreaks havoc on the mommy circle she becomes a part of which should give her plenty to work with.
The trailer is hiding Kravitz and only gives us the barest of glimpses into Adam Scott and all-around hunk extraordinaire Alexander Skarsgård, but if you need more convincing that this David E. Kelley-scripted miniseries is worth your time, take a look at the best moment from the trailer, in all its lurid gif-tastic glory:
For those who haven't read the novel, what do you make of this female-fronted ensemble drama coming our way in 2017?