Meryl Streep has joined the cast of “Big Little Lies” for Season 2.
The actress will play Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Alexander Skarsgård’s character who arrives in Monterey to tend to her grandchildren and search for answers.
HBO announced last month that the Emmy-winning miniseries would return for a second season, with much of the original cast expected to return. Thus far, only Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon have officially signed on to star and executive produce.
The second outing will also be written and executive produced by David E. Kelley and will be based, in part, on story by Liane Moriarty. Andrea Arnold will direct all seven installments.
In addition to Kelly, Arnold, Witherspoon and Kidman, executive producers on the series also include Bruna Papandrea, Season 1 director Jean-Marc Vallée, Nathan Ross and Gregg Fienberg.
The first season was a breakout hit for HBO, bringing the premium cable network 16 Emmy nominations and eight wins, effectively sweeping the Limited Series categories in September. The drama also proved to be a big winner at the Golden Globes earlier this month, taking home four statues.
“Big Little Lies” will be Streep’s first major foray into television since the HBO miniseries adaptation “Angels in America,” which earned the actress an Emmy award in 2004. Streep has also taken home Emmys in 1978 and 2017, for the NBC miniseries “Holocaust” and for narrating the Netflix docuseries “Five Came Back,” respectively.