There's a reason actors are flocking to work with director Jean-Marc Vallee. He led Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto to Oscar wins for Dallas Buyers Club, followed by a pair of nominations for Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern in Wild. Can he bring that same kind of magic to the small screen? We're soon to find out as he's re-teaming with Witherspoon on Big Little Lies, a project she's been developing with Nicole Kidman since last year.
Set up at HBO, the 7-episode event series will have every episode directed by Vallee with Witherspoon and Kidman in two of the lead roles. David E. Kelley (The Practice, Ally McBeal) will write the scripts for the story of mothers with kindergarten-aged kids whose lives spin violently out of control. The series is an adaptation of the book by Liane Moriarty, and is expected to be another major prestige property for the network.
The other lead role was rumored to be Shailene Woodley's, but there's nothing in Variety's report about her being involved. It's possible something has changed along the way. Production begins next year and hopefully it will hit the air soon after.
