49 Fun Facts About Big Little Lies

Big Little Lies is based on a 2014 novel by which Australian author?

Liane Moriarty built one plot thread on a friend's story of bite marks at kindergarten: after all the alarm, the biting turned out to be self-inflicted.

Who created and wrote the HBO series Big Little Lies?

David E. Kelley was a Boston lawyer until producer Steven Bochco hired him as a television writer, and he scripted every episode of Big Little Lies himself.

In which California town is Big Little Lies set?

Monterey replaced the Australian beach town of the novel when the story was adapted for American television.

Who plays Ed, Madeline's husband, in Big Little Lies?

Adam Scott plays Ed, who practises his Elvis karaoke at home and is mid-song at the school fundraiser when his guilt-stricken wife runs out.

Which Canadian filmmaker directed every episode of Big Little Lies' first season?

Jean-Marc Vallée shot all seven episodes handheld in natural light, with no marks on the floor, so the actors were free to move wherever a scene took them.

Which English director took over Big Little Lies for season two?

Andrea Arnold directed all seven episodes, after which the first season's director was brought back to rework her cuts, a step HBO called normal for television.

Which character does Reese Witherspoon play in Big Little Lies?

Madeline Mackenzie hides an affair with a theatre director; when her husband finds out in season two the marriage nearly ends, but the pair renew their vows.

Which character does Nicole Kidman play in Big Little Lies?

Celeste Wright is a retired lawyer who rediscovers her love of the work when she argues a case before the mayor, against her controlling husband's wishes.

In Big Little Lies, Shailene Woodley plays which single mother who is new in town?

Jane Chapman is the young newcomer who takes target practice at a shooting range while she hunts for the man who assaulted her.

In Big Little Lies, Laura Dern's character Renata Klein is married to whom?

Gordon is arrested in season two, and the fallout leaves the Kleins bankrupt with their belongings repossessed.

In Big Little Lies, Zoë Kravitz plays Bonnie Carlson, the wife of which character?

Nathan is Madeline's ex-husband, and their teenage daughter moves in with him and his new wife in season one, to her mother's dismay.

Who plays Perry Wright in Big Little Lies?

Alexander Skarsgård’s Perry looks like the perfect husband, but he is violent with his wife in private and is unmasked in the finale as the stranger who once assaulted another of the mothers.

Which screen legend joined Big Little Lies in season two as Perry's mother?

Meryl Streep's legal name is Mary Louise: the author wrote the part with her in mind and named it for her, and Streep signed on without reading a script.

Which Broadway musical does the community theatre fight City Hall to stage in Big Little Lies?

Avenue Q, a comedy performed with puppets, splits the town until the mayor is talked into letting the production go ahead.

Big Little Lies' Ziggy, Iain Armitage, went on to lead which sitcom?

Young Sheldon cast Iain Armitage in 2017, but he was first noticed as a small boy posting theatre reviews on YouTube, which is how agents found him.

Which character does Kathryn Newton play in Big Little Lies?

Abigail Carlson is the teenager whose secret project is a plan to auction her virginity online in the name of a cause, to her parents’ horror.

What is the name of the school at the center of the HBO series Big Little Lies?

Otter Bay Elementary exists only on screen: in the novel the parents feud at Pirriwee Public, which the author called 'a little bit of a dream school'.

Who pushes Perry down the stairs at the end of Big Little Lies' first season?

Bonnie shoves Perry as he attacks his wife and he falls to his death; the women tell the police he slipped, the lie that hangs over season two.

In Big Little Lies, what is Amanda Reisman, played by Robin Weigert, to Celeste and Perry?

Their therapist sees through the couple’s story, tells the wife she is being abused and urges her to plan a way out before the next attack.

In season two of Big Little Lies, Jane takes a new job at what kind of attraction?

An aquarium is Jane's new workplace, where her co-worker Corey asks her out and she slowly lets herself trust someone again.

In season two of Big Little Lies, what does Mary Louise go to court to win?

Custody of her grandsons is what Mary Louise sues for, but she loses after a video one of the boys filmed of his father's violence is shown in court.

What does Bonnie Carlson do for a living in Big Little Lies?

Yoga instructor Bonnie is the younger second wife whom her husband's ex cannot bear to keep running into, a grievance carried over from the novel.

What is the title of Big Little Lies' first episode?

Somebody's Dead opens with police at a school fundraiser where a parent has been killed, then hides both the victim and the killer until the finale.

Parents at Big Little Lies' fatal fundraiser dress as Elvis or which film star?

Audrey Hepburn came from life: a writer friend of the author spent a book tour hunting for the right pearls to wear as Audrey to a school costume event.

In what format did its two stars first plan to make Big Little Lies?

A feature film was the plan when the two stars optioned the book in August 2014; three months later they had recast it as a television project.

Which co-star lost an Emmy to Nicole Kidman?

Reese Witherspoon was nominated in the same category for the same show, but she still left with an Emmy that night as one of its producers.

Which top Emmy did Big Little Lies win for its first season?

Outstanding Limited Series fitted when it won, but HBO then ordered a second season, and the Producers Guild moved the show to drama and restarted its voting.

In Big Little Lies, what does Celeste swing at Perry in self-defence, sending him to hospital?

A tennis racket is what she grabs when he seizes her; back from the hospital he tells her she is lucky he did not kill her, and she starts looking for a flat.

In Big Little Lies, which show does Madeline take children to on the day of Amabella's birthday party?

Disney on Ice was payback for Ziggy being left off the guest list: she got free tickets for the same day, and several invited children skipped the party.

Whose song Cold Little Heart plays over the opening credits of Big Little Lies?

Michael Kiwanuka's theme is really a ten-minute album opener that builds for minutes before he sings a word; the credits use only a short slice of it.

Big Little Lies' second season was built on what, written by the book's author?

A new novella gave the writers their template: the show had been made as a one-off, so its makers asked the author for more story.

In the season two finale of Big Little Lies, which prized possession of her husband's does Renata destroy?

A model train set is the one luxury he arranges to keep through their bankruptcy, so she wrecks it and walks out on him.

Which HBO miniseries kept Big Little Lies' first director from shooting season two?

Sharp Objects, with Amy Adams, had him committed, so a new director was hired; once it wrapped he came back to reshape the season in the edit.

In season two of Big Little Lies, which decision by Abigail infuriates her mother?

Skipping college is her plan, and the row it starts ends with her shouting about her mother's affair within earshot of her stepfather.

In Big Little Lies, Amabella accuses Ziggy of doing what at orientation?

Choking her is the charge Amabella makes at orientation; Ziggy flatly denies it, and the feud it starts between the two mothers lasts most of the first season.

In Big Little Lies, which false name hides the identity of Ziggy's father for most of season one?

Saxon Banks is the name he gave; an online search turns up an innocent Saxon Baker, and the real man is recognised only at the school fundraiser.

Near which Australian city is the novel Big Little Lies set?

Sydney is where the author has lived all her life; she invented the Pirriwee Peninsula nearby and has said she will set all her books in Australia.

In the novel Big Little Lies, at what school event does the fatal evening unfold?

A trivia night came first: the author pictured costumed parents rioting at one, then worked backwards to find out what could have caused it.

In season two of Big Little Lies, a class lesson on which subject gives Amabella an anxiety attack?

Climate change is the lesson, in an episode titled The End of the World; a furious Renata confronts the principal for teaching it to second-graders.

In Big Little Lies, which school project forces Jane to face the question of Ziggy's father?

A family tree is the homework; when Ziggy insists on writing in his father's name, his mother finally tells a friend how he was conceived.

What does Big Little Lies' author call the real impetus for her novel?

A radio interview did it: she heard of a grown woman who, back at her parents' home, hid under the bed when her father turned on her mother.

In Big Little Lies, what does Renata come away with when a row over a school petition turns physical?

An injured eye is the accidental result of a confrontation over a petition she never started; the apology that follows ends the two mothers' feud.

Which other Moriarty novel did Kidman and the show's creator adapt together?

Kelley and Kidman's partnership began with Big Little Lies and continued through The Undoing.

In Big Little Lies, which first-grader acts as the family DJ, choosing songs heard throughout the show?

Chloe was the director's device: he made her the show's 'main music freak' so that the soundtrack could come from what the characters themselves play.

Where do the five women walk in together in the final scene of Big Little Lies' second season?

A police station is where the series leaves them: one of the five texts that she is ready to confess, and the other four turn up to walk in beside her.

Which 2014 film by Big Little Lies' first director had already paired Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern?

Wild follows a woman who hikes the Pacific Crest Trail alone after her mother's death; Dern played the mother, and both actresses were Oscar-nominated.

Season two of Big Little Lies reveals which tragedy from Perry's childhood?

His brother died in a car crash with their mother at the wheel, and in the courtroom finale she is accused of having blamed and punished Perry for it.

For Big Little Lies, Nicole Kidman and Laura Dern each won an Emmy and which other award?

Golden Globe night brought the show four wins from six nominations, and the two that got away were lost to its own cast, in categories their co-stars won.

Season one of Big Little Lies keeps cutting away to gossiping fellow parents doing what?

Giving statements to detectives is the frame: other parents talk about the five women all season, and only in the finale do the five take their own turn in the interrogation room.