“Big Little Lies” has added two new cast members for its second season and confirmed a handful of characters from the show’s first outing to reprise their roles.
“In the Heat of the Night” star Crystal Fox will join the show as a series regular, playing Elizabeth Howard, and “Pitch” vet Mo McRae will play Michael Perkins in a recurring role.
No details about the new roles were revealed beyond the character names.
HBO also confirmed that four key characters from the show’s first season would return: Kathryn Newton as Madeline’s (Reese Witherspoon) daughter Abigail; Sarah Sokolovic as Tori Bachman; Robin Weigert as Celeste’s (Nicole Kidman) therapist Dr. Amanda Reisman; and Merrin Dungey as Adrienne Quinlan, the detective investigating the Perry’s (Alexander Skarsgard) death.
The second outing, like the first, be written and executive produced by David E. Kelley and will be based, in part, on a story by Liane Moriarty. Andrea Arnold has signed on to direct all seven installments, stepping in for Season 1 director Jean-Marc Vallée.
In addition to Kelly, Arnold, Witherspoon and Kidman, executive producers on the series also include Bruna Papandrea, Vallée, Nathan Ross and Gregg Fienberg.
The first season was a breakout hit for HBO, bringing the premium cable network 16 Emmy nominations and eight wins, effectively sweeping the Limited Series categories in September. The drama also proved to be a big winner at the Golden Globes, taking home four wins, including a supporting actress award for Laura Dern.