Development Season 1 Actresses and producers
Nicole Kidman and
Reese Witherspoon were announced to have optioned the screen rights to
Liane Moriarty's novel
Big Little Lies on August 6, 2014, less than a month after the book's publication. The two of them were expected to develop the project as a film in which they would star and act as
executive producers, sharing the latter duty with
Bruna Papandrea and Per Saari; Moriarty was also expected to
produce. In November of that year, the actresses announced the format's shift into that of a
limited-run television series written by
David E. Kelley. In May 2015,
HBO gave the series a production order and Kelley was announced to join the team of executive producers. That October,
Jean-Marc Vallée was reportedly in talks with the project's team to handle
directing of the first episode and potentially others. His involvement with all seven episodes was confirmed almost two months later. The series' release date of February 19, 2017, was unveiled in November 2016.
Season 2 Originally conceived and billed as a miniseries, a potential new season of
Big Little Lies was discussed by the series' audience and the media. In July 2017, two weeks after the project and its cast and crew received several nominations for the
69th ceremony of the
Primetime Emmy Awards, Witherspoon stated: "As of right now, I think it's pretty whole. I feel really good about where it is, and if this is all it ever was, it's a beautiful thing we all accomplished together". However, in the wake of the nominations, HBO revealed that a second season was possible, and that Moriarty had been asked to write a story for it. During an April 2017 interview, Vallée came out strongly against the idea of producing a second season: "There's no reason to make a season two. That was meant to be a one-time deal, and it's finishing in a way where it's for the audience to imagine what can happen. If we do a season two, we'll break that beautiful thing and spoil it." When he and the series won several accolades at the 69th ceremony of the Primetime Emmy Awards, the director changed his mind: "It'd be great to reunite the team and to do it. Are we going to be able to do it, altogether? I wish." In December 2017, HBO officially renewed the series for a seven-episode second season to be written by Kelley, directed by
Andrea Arnold, based on a new novella by Moriarty, and with Vallée remaining an executive producer. The announcement of the second season, and specifically its timing, enraged producers of rival shows that were competing for award nominations in the limited series categories, particularly since it was made after voting for the
Critics' Choice Television Award and
Golden Globe Award were over. Due to this, the
Producers Guild of America restarted voting for the
2018 ceremony of
their award show, reclassifying the show from a limited series to a
drama series. The second season premiered on June 9, 2019. In July 2019, it was reported by
IndieWire that director Andrea Arnold lost creative control after filming had completed, and it was given to season 1 director Jean-Marc Vallée in an attempt to unify the style between the seasons. Arnold was initially promised by HBO that the show would be done in her vision, including post-production, and was unaware that Vallée would edit the footage she had shot. Once Vallée completed his work on
Sharp Objects, he took over the editing process along with his own editorial team in Montreal. HBO also ordered 17 more days of additional photography, to be filmed by Arnold, but overseen by Vallée. Significant reworking of the episodes also took place, where episodes were shortened. In response, HBO programming president Casey Bloys stated, "There's a lot of misinformation around that subject" and "the director typically does not have final creative control". Bloys clarified that Vallée came back to "hone the episodes" after being asked by the entire producing team, including Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, and that they were clear with Arnold about how the process would work from the start.
Season 3 Around the second season's release, HBO president Casey Bloys said a third season of the show was "not realistic" due to scheduling the show's actors, but mentioned that the network is more than willing to greenlight it if the cast is able to work out their schedules. In October 2020, Nicole Kidman revealed during a press interview for
The Undoing that author Liane Moriarty is writing the plot for a potential third season and that the cast and crew are excited to reunite for it. In a November 2022 interview with
GQ, however, Zoë Kravitz expressed doubt that the series would return for a third season because of the death of director Jean-Marc Vallée. A year later, in November 2023, Kidman said that a third season would be made, and also said this at the AFI Awards in April 2024. She and Witherspoon were "texting every day" about the third season while Moriarty "is delivering the book", Kidman said in 2024. In March 2025, Francesca Orsi, EVP and Head of Drama at HBO expressed enthusiasm for the upcoming project but noted that progress hinges on completing Liane Moriarty's book. While 150 pages have been submitted, Moriarty is still finalizing the remainder. In June 2025, Kelley said that "everyone is very committed" to making a third season, but "nobody's under contract" yet. In September 2025, development of the third season was confirmed, with
Francesca Sloane hired as executive producer and writer of the first episode. Moriarty's follow-up novel was also reported to be finished and due for publication in 2026.
Casting Alongside the initial announcement of the production's development, Kidman and Witherspoon were reported to also star in the adaptation. The following month,
Alexander Skarsgård,
James Tupper, and
Jeffrey Nordling joined the starring cast, while
Santiago Cabrera,
P. J. Byrne,
Kelen Coleman,
Sarah Burns,
Darby Camp,
Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti,
Ivy George,
Chloe Coleman,
Virginia Kull,
Sarah Baker,
Kathreen Khavari, Larry Bates,
Hong Chau,
Gia Carides,
Merrin Dungey,
Larry Sullivan,
David Monahan, and
Iain Armitage landed supporting roles. The latter one was cast in the role of Woodley's character's son. Following the confirmation of a sophomore season,
Meryl Streep was announced in January 2018 to have joined the starring cast in the role of Skarsgård's character's mother. In February, Woodley, Dern, Kravitz, Scott, Tupper, Nordling and Armitage were confirmed to be returning. That March,
Douglas Smith was cast in a recurring role. In April, it was reported that
Crystal Fox joined the main cast alongside returners Newton and Sokolovic, while
Mo McRae and
Martin Donovan joined the recurring cast alongside returners Weigert and Dungey. However, only Newton received main billing; Fox and Sokolovic's appearances were credited as recurring. Byrne was announced alongside newcomer
Poorna Jagannathan in May, followed by
Denis O'Hare in June.
Filming For the first season, Vallée shot the series with an
Arri Alexa digital camera and preferred using natural lighting and handheld shooting style to allow actors to move freely around the set. Several scenes were filmed
on location in the
Monterey Peninsula,
Big Sur,
Pacific Grove, and
Carmel Highlands.
Soundtrack ABKCO Records released
soundtracks for the first and second seasons on March 31, 2017, and July 19, 2019, respectively. ==Release==