How do you top the first season of a series that employs A-listers and Oscar winners including Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman? Oh, just add the greatest actress of all time, Meryl Streep. That's exactly what HBO's "Big Little Lies" is doing for its upcoming sophomore season, but according to Kidman, that casting coup was a lot easier than you'd think.

In an interview with Variety, Kidman dished about getting Streep to sign on for "BLL" season two, adding some more background to the story previously shared by Witherspoon. While Witherspoon noted that they had sent Streep a script, Kidman revealed that their fellow Academy Award winner didn't even look at it before making up her mind, a decision timed to the night that the show won the Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film earlier this year.

“She goes, ‘I suppose now I have to join you,'" Kidman recalled to Variety of Streep's response, which she emailed to both Kidman and Witherspoon. "And we were like, ‘What?’ The two of us were just shocked. ... She hadn’t even read it. That’s how much she wanted to support us.”

Of course, Kidman quickly realized that getting Streep -- who plays her mother-in-law -- on board was a lot more intimidating than she anticipated, admitting to Variety that she was "terrified" of "acting opposite the great one." We can only imagine. But somehow, we have a feeling that Kidman (who snagged both a Golden Globe and an Emmy for "BLL" season one) rose to the challenge.

Of course, even setting aside Streep's involvement, it sounds like season two of the series will be excellent. According to Kidman, she and Witherspoon -- who co-produce the show -- wanted to "deliver a series for [Streep] that she’s great in. Reese and I were like, ‘We want this for her and for the other women [in the cast].’ They have much stronger roles in the second one."

We can't wait to see it. (And find out what on earth causes Witherspoon to hurl her ice cream at Streep.) Season two of "Big Little Lies" is expected to debut on HBO sometime in 2019.

[via: Variety]