Reese Witherspoon on More Big Little Lies: “We’re Optimistic”

It’s been approximately six months since Big Little Lies premiered, and TV hasn’t been the same since. In the wake of the HBO miniseries based on Liane Moriarty’s novel of the same title, more and more actresses are jumping from film to TV — as Nicole Kidman, Elisabeth Moss, and Jessica Lange have explained — and the rest of us have been waiting with bated breath to see if the BLL stars will have the chance to reunite on-screen. Now, however, that hope is increasingly becoming a reality with Reese Witherspoon being the latest to fuel rumors of a second season.

Witherspoon even used the word “optimistic” in reference to the possibility in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “Right now, we’re happy if this is all there is,” she said, before adding, “We’re optimistic that there might be more.” Witherspoon is doing her part to make that happen, as she’s been in conversation with writer and producing partner David E. Kelley, but it’s not all up to her. Never mind how demanding the schedules of her costars Nicole Kidman (who has been having a renaissance as of late), Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley and Zoë Kravitz are, the future of the show lies more within the hands of writer Moriarty.

“Honestly, it’s totally in [novelist] Liane Moriarty’s court,” explained Witherspoon. “The ball is definitely in her court because these characters were born of her mind and her imagination and we just want to see if she’s interested in creating more story about these characters. She really created an incredible road map for us that we followed almost to a T.” Of course, that road map is a novel which ends very similarly to the television show, so whatever follows would likely have to be dreamed up entirely by Moriarty. “It just comes down to: Do we have the story?,” says Witherspoon. “It was a standalone book and there was nothing after that, so it’s up to the mind of the writer to create the vision for the journey of these characters. Right now, we have nothing. We don’t have a book. We’re certainly not going to create it out of thin air. [Moriarty’s] very deft at, first of all, creating tension through mystery, but also digging deep into the very intimate lives of female friendships — their relationships, their romantic relationships, their parenting styles.” No doubt that’s one of the reasons that so many devoured the short series.

On the bright side, Moriarty is already thinking about how those would continue to unfold, which she revealed earlier this year — and it would likely start with Celeste, Kidman’s character. “How would she feel? She’s grieving. She’s still grieving for the end of a terrible relationship, and I think that would be a really interesting thing to explore,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald. For now, BLL fans can discover more about Celeste’s character, as well as her peers, in the book and, if Moriarty ends up turning down a second season, perhaps Witherspoon and co. can draw inspiration from our own ideas for a continuation.

Related: Reese Witherspoon’s Home Again Trailer Seems Like Big Little Lies Up to the Moment It Doesn’t

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