Entertainment

The First ‘Big Little Lies’ Photo Of Meryl Streep & Nicole Kidman Is HERE

Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/courtesy of HBO

When it was first announced that Meryl Streep was joining Big Little Lies Season 2, the internet collectively wept. And when the first photo of Streep and Nicole Kidman filming Big Little Lies was shared on Instagram, you can bet the freaking out continued. Kidman, who plays Celeste on the show, posted the photo on Thursday afternoon with the caption: "First day on the set with Meryl and 'my' darling boys! #BigLittleLies." And yes, it's enough to make any fan's day.

Back in January, Entertainment Weekly reported that Streep will play Kidman's mother-in-law, Mary Louise Wright. Spoilers ahead for Season 1. As fans will recall, Celeste's abusive husband Perry Wright was killed in the season finale after Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz's character) pushed him. And it's been speculated that Streep's character will be back to try and piece things together. Yet in the photo shared by Kidman, the family members seem to be sharing a sweet moment — and it doesn't look tense in the least bit. That's further backed up by HBO's own tweet of the BLL image, which read:

"Family is everything. Here’s your first look at Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman as Mary Louise Wright and Celeste Wright. #BLL2"

Reese Witherspoon, who along with Kidman executive-produces and stars on the show, also shared the same image on her Instagram. Witherspoon wrote, "Can’t wait for y’all to see what we have in store!"

Jennifer Clasen/HBO

And based on the comments below Witherspoon's Instagram photo, fans can't either. Responses range from "DEAD," to "!!!!!! MERYL," to more thoughtful replies like, "Yes! Thank you thank you can’t wait! Amazing women doing amazing this!" But again, it's easy to understand where the caps-lock comments are coming from. After all, this is Oscar winner Meryl Streep joining the very TV series that swept the Emmys last year.

During the 2017 ceremony, Big Little Lies took home eight trophies in total. Not bad for a show that had just wrapped its first season. The accolades ranged from Outstanding Limited Series to Outstanding Actress in a Limited Series (Kidman) to Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series (Laura Dern). And in Dern's acceptance speech, she echoed the very concept that makes Big Little Lies such an important show — the power of women coming together and supporting each other. She said at the September 2017 ceremony,

“I share this with my tribe of four ladies. I feel very proud to be reflecting fierce women and mothers finding their voice."

There's no doubt that Streep joining the cast brings the fierce women total to six. In addition to Kidman, Witherspoon, Dern, and Kravitz, Shailene Woodley plays Jane, the newest mom to move to Monterey, who doesn't quite fit the vibe of the rest of the group. But they all become forever bonded by the aforementioned Bonnie-pushing-Perry incident. Season 1 proved they'd go to any odds necessary to have each other's backs.

Besides Streep, there will be even more additions to the Big Little Lies cast this time around. Vulture reported back in December that Bonnie's parents are joining the show. (At the time, Twitter was really pulling for Kravitz's actual parents, Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet, to play her TV parents. However, that wound up just being a fan fantasy.) According to a recent Deadline report, Crystal R. Fox will play Bonnie's mom, and Mo McRae will be the elementary school's newest teacher, Michael Perkins. No word yet on who will be Bonnie's dad.

As more details and photos continue to drop, the excitement only builds. So here's hoping Big Little Lies Season 2 gets a release date soon, otherwise fans will be getting very antsy.