‘Big Little Lies’ Season 2 Star Shailene Woodley Admits Trying Not To “Fangirl” Over Co-Star Meryl Streep

Warning: Article contains Season 1 spoilers

Filming for Season 2 of HBO’s Big Little Lies is currently underway and while not a whole lot of information has been dropped about what’s to come after the Season 1 cliffhanger, we do know there is a huge A-list actor who has joined the star-studded cast. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Meryl Streep, signed on for the seven-episode second season. Fans of the show went crazy and apparently so did the Big Little Lies cast.

In a recent interview with Bustle, BLL co-star, Shailene Woodley, who plays single mother, Jane Chapman, opened up about what it was like to work with the Oscar-winning actress and how difficult it was not to “fangirl” over her new co-star.

“I try to remove myself from the fangirl state of mind of being so enamored by them that I don’t actually see them as the human that they are. And with Meryl, the same story goes. It is, quite shocking though, I can say, to do a scene with her and to actually witness her brilliance take after take after take.”

The Post actress is set to play Celeste Wright’s (played by Nicole Kidman) mother-in-law, Mary Louise Wright. At the end of Season 1, we learned that Celeste’s husband, Perry Wright (played by Alexander Skarsgård) is the one who was murdered at the fundraiser after Bonnie (played by Zoe Kravitz) pushes him down the stairs when she sees him hitting Celeste. Now that Celeste is left alone to raise her and Perry’s two boys, enter Mary. And of course, there are many questions to be answered. Will Mary seek absolution for her son’s murder? Did she know about her son’s abusive nature? Was she herself an abused wife so perhaps she can relate to Celeste’s pain?

Woodley also reveals that she and Streep do share some screen time together. “I do work with Meryl, but I can’t tell you any more than that,” she told Bustle. We also learned at the end of the Season 1 finale that Perry is the man who raped Jane and got her pregnant as a result, making him the biological father of Jane’s son, Ziggy. So the obvious question is, will Jane tell Mary and if so, will Mary welcome her newfound grandson into her arms?

“There’s a reason why Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep. She shows up and she knows her sh*t. And she’s humble about it,” says Woodley praising her co-star. The Adrift actress also explains that the way Streep approaches a new project as a learning and growth opportunity is what makes her “as good as she is.”

Big Little Lies Season 1 was a huge success, winning four Golden Globes and eight Emmy Awards. However, word is that if Meryl Streep hadn’t signed on for Season 2 of Big Little Lies, there probably wouldn’t have even been a second season to speak of. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, BLL writer, David E. Kelley, admits that he was not on board at first for bringing the show back. “I didn’t think it was a very good idea. We wrote it as a one-off and we ended it in a way that was very lyrical. I so loved how we ended year one and I thought, “Let’s just leave it at that”,” he said. What changed his mind? According to Kelley, there were several factors, but adding in Meryl Streep’s character was “genius”. “It’s a delicious character and I felt bringing her in was both liberating and daunting,” he added. Kelley admitted to THR that he no longer felt that BLL Season 2 would be compared to Season 1 with the arrival of Meryl Streep.

Big Little Lies Season 2 will premiere on HBO in 2019.