Reese Witherspoon Reveals Nicole Kidman Asked Her To Join ‘Big Little Lies’

“Big Little Lies” star Reese Witherspoon recently revealed that her co-star, Nicole Kidman, personally encouraged her to play the role of Madeline in the hit HBO limited series.

While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Witherspoon said that getting acting advice from the award-winning actress also helped her with the part. “Being able to ask Nicole Kidman for acting advice was key to even deciding to do the part, because for a while I had a little trepidation about playing a character that I felt could be a little bit one-note. She really helped me,” she said.

Witherspoon shared what Kidman told her about playing the role of Madeline. “She said, ‘No, no, you have to, because the show needs to have a levity to it in order for us to all feel like we love these people so much that we don’t want anything bad to happen to them. And you create empathy through comedy,’” Witherspoon recalled.

The actress, who has starred in more movies than TV shows, admitted that there were some instances during filming when she and co-star Laura Dern felt like they were doing a comedy. “Laura Dern and I kept looking at each other and going, ‘I think we’re in a comedy and everybody else is in a drama.’ But I think that’s what makes it relatable and why people see themselves in it, because there’s a part of it that is so much about the intimacy of marriage and relationships and parenting and the secrets we keep from each other,” she said.

Meanwhile, Witherspoon’s Madeline role served as her first major TV role since she started acting at a young age. However, the actress has guest-starred in “Friends” and talk shows such as “The Tonight Show.” After just one major TV role, however, Witherspoon has earned herself an Emmy nomination. “Big Little Lies” received a total of 16 Emmy nods, including Witherspoon’s.

In other news, there are rumors that “Big Little Lies” Season 2 may still happen depending on book author Liane Moriarty. She has been asked by the producers and heads of HBO to come up with possible storylines for Madeline, Celeste (Kidman) and Jane (Shailene Woodley).