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'Big Little Lies' Season 2 Is Officially Happening—With a Female Director


After months of rumors, speculation, and false starts, it’s official: HBO’s hit limited series Big Little Lies is coming back for a second season. Yes, you read that correctly. Madeline Martha Mackenzie and her band of Monterrey mothers are returning for seven more episodes of delicious, female-focused drama. And this time, a female director, Andrea Arnold (who’s responsible for the 2016 acclaimed indie drama American Honey), will helm the entire thing.

“I’m thrilled to be bringing back this talented team of artists,” Reese Witherspoon said in a statement from HBO. “It gives us the opportunity to delve deeper into the lives of these intriguing and intricate Monterey families and bring more of their stories back to the audience who embraced and championed them. I’m beyond excited to be working with talented and acclaimed director Andrea Arnold who will be at the helm. Andrea’s unique storytelling style will be a welcome addition to the filmmaking team.”

Arnold’s participation is perhaps the most exciting part of this announcement—besides, ya know, the fact Big Little Lies season two is happening at all. The first season of the show swept the Emmy Awards this year and was lauded for its dedication to telling nuanced, raw female stories. It only makes sense that a female director take the reins this time around to make sure these women’s stories are fully realized.

David E. Kelley, who wrote the screenplays for the first season, will also write the scripts this time around. The plot was partially conceived by Liane Moriarty, who wrote the original Big Little Lies novel.

“This is inspired by the overwhelming response by audiences around the world, conceived once again by Liane Moriarty, realized by David Kelley, and now in the hands of visionary filmmaker Andrea Arnold,” Nicole Kidman said in HBO’s statement. “What a journey this has been. I’m so grateful to have this opportunity to keep exploring these female characters and make this series with my friends.”

At this point, only Kidman and Witherspoon are confirmed to star. However, HBO notes most of the cast is expected to return and negotiations are currently happening. Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz, and Alexander Skarsgård were the other stars of season one, though it seems unlikely Skarsgård would come back because—spoiler alert—his character died.

When Big Little Lies season two will premiere is a mystery at this point, but we’re sure it’ll be worth the wait.

Related Stories:

Liane Moriarty Reveals the Domestic Abuse in Big Little Lies Is Based on Real Events

Big Little Lies Season Two Story Lines Are in the Works

Riverdale Totally Referenced Big Little Lies on This Week’s Episode



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'Wonder Woman 2' Will Have Another 'Great Love Story,' Says Director Patty Jenkins


A major part of the Wonder Woman plot revolved around Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince simultaneously fighting alongside and falling in love with Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor, the first man she’d ever met. Obviously, there were other important things going on in the movie—see: Diana marching across No Man’s Land to rescue an entire town of hostages; Diana plotting to stop German scientists from dropping bombs on innocent people; Diana defeating Ares, the god of war—but it’s nearly impossible not to shed a tear when Steve flies a plane full of bombs away from everybody else and (probably) dies in the process, leaving Diana screaming his name on the ground below.

It’s hard to imagine moving on from that traumatic loss, but in a new edition of Variety‘s Playback podcast released in mid-November, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was asked about the blockbuster film’s sequel and hinted that the Wonder Woman sequel will include another “great love story.”

“Because she is Wonder Woman and she’s here now and she’s fully developed, it’s got great fun from the start, and great big superhero presence from the start, and is funny and a great love story again, and [has] a couple new unbelievable characters who I’m so excited about, who are very different than were in the last movie,” Patty said. Steve Trevor fans were sent spiraling, with several outlets publishing articles assuming that Patty’s comments meant that Diana will have a brand new love interest in the new film.

But before you, too, start protesting Steve’s replacement, you should know that Patty has already refuted these assumptions. “Quite a few people, including this headline, seem to be completely misunderstanding or making some pretty false assumptions based on one of many vague quotes I made about something I can’t say ANYTHING about. Just wait. ;)” she wrote in response to one of these articles.

In that case, the “great love story” Patty referenced in the podcast could just refer to Diana’s compassion for all mankind, her relationship with a new (platonic) friend, or her lasting love for Steve—in the new Justice League movie, even though she’s somewhat flirty with Ben Affleck’s Batman (who definitely does not deserve her), Diana is still clearly carrying a torch for the charismatic spy. For further proof that this love story won’t necessarily involve a new love interest, just rewatch Wonder Woman: Diana Prince definitely does not need a man.

While we all wait ravenously for more details about Wonder Woman 2, which is scheduled to be released in December 2019, feel free to overanalyze everything else Patty said about the film in the podcast episode. “It’s really still going to other values of hers, and a similar formula insofar as making a great, enjoyable fun movie, but that ultimately, in its third act, turns some very big issues, and a very big experience that will aim to have slightly more weight and profundity than it has to have. Because that’s a formula that I really like, and I like the idea of taking somebody on a very solid, great journey but that arrives at a bigger question being answered,” she said. “I feel like it’s just the right amount the same world of Wonder Woman as the first movie, while being a completely different story that tackles something very different but very similarly singular. One story.”





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Jennifer Lawrence Says Her Job Was 'Threatened' After She Stuck Up for Herself Against a Director


Jennifer Lawrence has had it with the “difficult” moniker placed on women who choose to speak their mind.

The actress shared her views on what she sees as an unfair double standard placed on women when she spoke as part of The Hollywood Reporter‘s annual Actress Roundtable alongside Allison Janney, Mary J. Blige, Emma Stone, and Saoirse Ronan.

During the wide-ranging discussion, the women spoke at length about the current climate of sexual harassment in Hollywood, but noted that even with all of the women coming forward to share their #MeToo stories there are still more who are staying silent out of fear of being labeled and losing out on future work.

“We have to recognize that there are so many who haven’t told their stories yet, who aren’t comfortable to share,” Stone said. “I feel so much compassion for those who are still getting up and going to work every day with their abuser or have had abuse in their past and who are not ready to say anything.” Stone added that it’s equally unfair that women are also feeling the pressure to come forward with their stories of assault and misconduct because, “If you’re not saying it now, then you’re complicit in this evil that’s occurring.”

Lawrence, replying to Stone’s comments, said you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t when it comes to standing against misconduct. “I finally made the decision to stand up for myself, and then I went to go to the bathroom at work and one of the producers stopped me and was like, ‘You know, we can hear you on the microphone, you’ve been really unruly,'” she said. “Which was not true, but basically my job was threatened because the director said something fucked up to me and I said, ‘That’s sick, you can’t talk to me like that,’ and then I was punished, and I got afraid that I wasn’t going to be hired again.”

Stone added that actions like that will get you labeled as “difficult,” to which Lawrence agreed, explaining that she too has become known as “difficult” and “a nightmare” simply for protecting herself at work. “I think a lot of people aren’t coming forward because they’re afraid they’re not going to work again,” she said. “You need to be able to say, ‘This is wrong’ and have somebody do something about it instead of saying, ‘Oh, it’s wrong? Well, you’re fired.'”

Lawrence is well aware that Hollywood isn’t in a bubble when it comes to the way women are treated in the workforce. However, she does see an opportunity as a high-profile actress to make change in not only entertainment but for all women everywhere. “We’re in the industry, everybody is looking at us,” she said. “If we’re going through this, every woman in the world is going through this.”



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38 Women Have Just Accused Hollywood Director James Toback of Sexual Harassment


PHOTO: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images

Almost 40 women have come forward to accuse Hollywood director and screenwriter James Toback of sexual harassment in a bombshell L.A. Times story published Sunday morning. Known for movies like The Pick-Up Artist (1987), Love & Money (1982), and Two Girls and a Guy (1997), he would allegedly approach young women wanting to break into the industry or those he just saw in the street, try to impress them with name-dropping actors or producing clips about his work, and then try to arrange a one-on-one meeting with them that “quickly turned sexual,” according to the Times report.

Not just sexual, but “humiliating”: Toback would allegedly ask these women how often they masturbated and how much public hair they had. According to several accounts, he would tell them to take off their clothes, saying if they weren’t comfortable, then they didn’t have the “sexual confidence” for a role. Typically, he would grind his crotch into women’s legs or masturbate in front of them until he finished, alleges the Times, either on them or in his pants. Some women report him asking them to look into his eyes while he masturbated and pinch his nipples before he came.

He allegedly told one woman, 18 at the time and thrilled about a connection to help in her along with her dream of screenwriting, that she had to “be ready to turn yourself completely over to me.” He met with then-As the World Turns actress Terri Conn in Central Park and, she says, told her that “the best way to get to know someone is to see their soul. And the way you can see someone’s soul is to look into their eyes when they’re experiencing orgasm.” He allegedly “began humping her leg”—with people nearby—until he finished in his khakis.

“I was shocked and frozen and didn’t know what to do,” she told the Times. “I thought if I resisted, it could get worse. He could overpower me.”

Toback’s alleged behavior was whispered about enough in Hollywood that his name became a verb: “You got Tobacked.”

Not a single one of the 38 women in the story felt comfortable at the time reporting their alleged incidents to the police. “I felt like a prostitute, an utter disappointment to myself, my parents, my friends. And I deserved not to tell anyone,” said actress Adrienne LaValley in the Times story. Toback had allegedly met with her in a hotel room before trying to grind against her leg. She “recoiled,” and he came in his trousers.

Another actress, Starr Rinaldi, says that there was no good way out in an encounter with Toback, who she says “always wanted her to read for him” in a hotel or his flat: “The horrible thing is, whichever road you choose, whether you sleep with him or walk away, you’re still broken. You have been violated.”

As the Times points out, Toback’s name showed up in “his own special universe” of the #MeToo movement on social media, with many women hashtagging him in their posts last weekend. Even more have included #JamesToback in #MeToo posts since the Times story broke.

Toback, who is 72, denies the allegations in the Times article, and says that this behavior would have been “biologically impossible” for at least the past 22 years due to diabetes and a heart condition. His latest movie, The Private Life of a Modern Woman, starring Sienna Miller, was released September 3.

The L.A. Times story follows, of course, the massive New York Times investigation into decades of alleged sexual harassment and assault carried out by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein—whose behavior also allegedly followed set patterns. Like Weinstein, there were rumors and whispers. It’s yet another tale of yet another man (allegedly) abusing his influence and power to prey on the ambition of women. And as long as women keep speaking out, there will be more of them.

Related Stories:
–These Are All the Women Who Have Accused Harvey Weinstein of Sexual Harassment and Assault
–An Explosive Report Alleges Decades of Sexual Harassment by Harvey Weinstein
–Jennifer Lawrence Calls Harvey Weinstein Allegations ‘Inexcusable and Absolutely Upsetting’



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Reese Witherspoon Shares That a Director Assaulted Her When She Was 16


PHOTO: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Since allegations of Harvey Weinstein’s long history of sexual assault and harassment came to light, countless people in Hollywood and beyond have come forward to share their stories. On Monday night, Reese Witherspoon joined in and spoke up about her own experiences with sexual assault and harassment.

While introducing Laura Dern, Witherspoon’s Big Little Lies costar and one of her “very favorite people in the whole world,” at Elle’s Women in Hollywood event on Monday night, Witherspoon took a moment to acknowledge the heartbreaking stories that have been flooding in for almost two weeks, according to Elle. “This has been a really hard week for women in Hollywood, for women all over the world, for men in a lot of situations and a lot of industries that are forced to remember and relive a lot of ugly truths,” she said.

“I have my own experiences that have come back to me very vividly, and I found it really hard to sleep, hard to think, hard to communicate. A lot of the feelings I’ve been having about anxiety, about being honest, the guilt for not speaking up earlier or taking action. True disgust at the director who assaulted me when I was 16 years old and anger that I felt at the agents and the producers who made me feel that silence was a condition of my employment.”

“And I wish I could tell you that that was an isolated incident in my career, but sadly, it wasn’t,” Witherspoon continued. “I’ve had multiple experiences of harassment and sexual assault, and I don’t speak about them very often, but after hearing all the stories these past few days and hearing these brave women speak up tonight, the things that we’re kind of told to sweep under the rug and not talk about, it’s made me want to speak up and speak up loudly because I felt less alone this week than I’ve ever felt in my entire career.”

The 41-year-old went on, “And I’ve just spoken to so many actresses and writers, and particularly women, who’ve had similar experiences, and many of them have bravely gone public with their stories. And that truth is very encouraging to me and to everyone out there in the world, because you can only heal by telling the truth. Very smart, wise women have told me that in the past three days, and I feel very encouraged by this group of people tonight who have created a community of people who are champions now of a new attitude toward harassment in our industry, and every industry that’s going to address the abuse of power in this business and every business, and I feel really, really encouraged that there will be a new normal.”

The Oscar winner, who brought 18-year-old daughter Ava Phillippe to the event, went on to address the young women in the room. “Life is going to be different for you because we have you, we have your back. And that makes me feel better because, gosh, it’s about time.”

She also suggested a new “course of action” for the Hollywood powerhouses in attendance. “I just want to say, there’s a lot of people here who negotiate quite frequently with different companies and heads of companies, and I think maybe during your next negotiation, this is a really prudent time to ask important questions like, who are your top female executives? Do those women have green-light power? How many women are on the board of your company? How many women are in a key position of decision-making at your company? Asking questions like that, I found, it seems so obvious, but people don’t ask those questions,” Witherspoon said. “If we can raise consciousness and really help create change, that’s what’s going to change this industry and change society.”

Witherspoon wrote about creating this kind of meaningful change in an essay for the October 2017 issue of Glamour. “All we can do to create change is work hard. That’s my advice: Just do what you do well. If you’re a producer, you’ve got to produce. If you’re a writer, you’ve got to write. If you’re in corporate America, keep working hard to bust through the glass ceiling. If you want our voices to be represented in government—and I think we’re all getting behind that idea now—encourage women to run and help them with their campaigns. If you are one of those people who has that little voice in the back of her mind saying, ‘Maybe I could do [fill in the blank],’ don’t tell it to be quiet. Give it a little room to grow, and try to find an environment it can grow in.”



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Taylor Swift's Music Video Director Reveals the Meaning Behind 'Old Taylor'


PHOTO: Big Machine Records

If you have a pulse, you’ve undoubtedly heard Taylor Swift’s new song “Look What You Made Me Do,” in which she declares the “Old Taylor” is dead. The meaning behind this lyric is still a mystery. Fans originally thought it meant Swift was abandoning her old, smiley personality, but that went out the window when she appeared in an AT&T ad filled with cuddly cats and cookie dough. Perhaps the line is directed at the media: The “Old Taylor” sat back and ignored tabloids, but “New Taylor” is firing back in the form of an album where half her face is filled with newspaper print on the cover. Maybe it means she’s no longer going to wear her hair in loose curls.

Or maybe “Old Taylor” doesn’t mean anything at all—that’s what Joseph Kahn sort of suggests in his new interview with Variety. The director, who helmed the “Look What You Made Me Do” video, says that Swift is “consistent” in who she is—which basically means “Old Taylor” and “New Taylor” are the same.

“Taylor is Taylor,” Kahn said. “She’s so consistent in who she is. Her imaging may be changing depending on what the thematics of the art is that she’s producing, [but] the person remains the same. There’s a core person there that’s really a fantastic human being.”

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In other words, Swift is doing what dozens of pop artists do every few years: She’s reinventing. This doesn’t mean she’s altering herself: She’s just adapting her public image to fit the story she’s telling. Madonna and Rihanna are pros at this—and now so is Swift. Her former self isn’t dead—just her former image.

It’s interesting many people think Swift is literally changing herself with this new music, like she’s “method singing” or something. This is a phenomenon I’ve noticed with female performers: Oftentimes, people can’t separate the work from the artist. Their public personas and real lives are inextricably linked, which is very frustrating. Female artists should be able to express themselves creatively without the world thinking there’s trouble or change in their personal lives. Sometimes, it really isn’t that deep.

Related Stories:

Taylor Swift and Cardi B Have the Top Spots on the Billboard Hot 100—Here’s Why That’s Huge



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