Nicole Kidman Reveals Why She and Reese Witherspoon Think Now Is the Right Time for Season Three of ‘Big Little Lies’

Back in November, Nicole Kidman confirmed that, at last, there would be a season three of HBO’s hit Big Little Lies after season two wrapped five years ago, in 2019.

“I loved Big Little Lies, because it sort of came along at a time in my life when I had my children and I was thinking I was going to retire,” she said. “And then this situation came along where Reese Witherspoon and I were able to produce that show and create that show. And then all of you watched it and made it a massive success. And we will bringing you a third one, just FYI.” 

In a new interview with Elle, Kidman said that the five-year break was necessary: “There’s the richness of the storylines, which we’d always discussed, but it needed time because there’s actual unbelievable depth to the next chapter of these women’s lives and their children’s lives—because children grow up, and that’s kind of fascinating,” she said.

The show—which stars the powerhouse ensemble cast of Kidman, Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Zoe Kravitz, Shailene Woodley, and Meryl Streep—was last onscreen in July 2019 after its debut two years prior. The show is based off of a 2014 novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty (who also wrote Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall, which have both been made into shows on Hulu and Peacock, respectively) and the Big Little Lies screen adaptation amassed eight Emmys. It takes us through the lives of high-powered yet troubled moms living in Monterey, California.

In 2021, at just 58 years old, the show’s director Jean-Marc Vallée died “suddenly and unexpectedly,” his representative said, the result of a fatal cardiac arrythmia. His loss also contributed to the delay in season three, and many thought it would shutter the show for good. As the cast plans to head back to Monterey, their respective busy schedules are proving a bit prohibitive (after all, they are some of the biggest actresses in the world), but their offscreen friendship is helping to continually propel the project forward, Kidman said.

“I think when you’re all scattered and never sort of cross paths, it’s very, very different,” she said. “But when you’re all still very intertwined, that’s what makes it doable, because there’s a willingness, and you want to spend time together.”

And where shall we send a thank you card for the push for season three to finally happen? Well, to someone unexpected, actually. “My daughter is the one who watched both of the [seasons] and went, ‘Okay, there’s just no question, there has to be a third,’” Kidman said. “She’s like, ‘Celeste, she’s not coping in the second one, what is she doing? I could kind of see the point of view of Mary Louise.’”

In addition to sharing two children with ex-husband Tom Cruise, Kidman and husband Keith Urban are parents to two teenage girls, Sunday Rose, 15, and Faith Margaret, 13.

“I love teenage girls,” Kidman said. “I just find them exquisite. I marvel at that age group and what they’re dealing with, but also their ability to handle so much.”