Zoe Kravitz Never Expected 'Big Little Lies' to Resonate With Fans Like It Did

(Image credit: Randy Holmes)

published 13 September 2018

The Big Little Lies cast has wrapped up filming season two, and they're closer than ever. In Harper's BAZAAR's October issue, Zoë Kravitz, who plays Bonnie Carlson on BLL, reveals the empowering dynamic on set between co-stars Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, and the rest of the female crew.

"Our crew right now, on Big Little Lies, is great. There are so many women on our set—it’s so cool. I feel a different kind of energy, this feminine energy," she says in the HBZ interview with Reese Witherspoon. "Not only because the cast is dominated by women, but also because props and costume and grips and lighting and camera operators are too. My experience doing all my emotional scenes, I’ve never felt so safe and supported. It’s really allowing me to go to a deeper place."

Kravitz also admits that she totally did not expect BLL to resonate with fans as much as it did. She did, however, know that it touched on important female topics and brilliantly illustrated the complexity of each of the characters.

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"I knew that it touched on some really important things, and that it was a nice mix of parenting and female friendship, and also that it incorporated real issues and dealt with domestic violence in a way that had never really been done before."

"[The complexity] is the thing that attracted all of us to the characters. I don’t think I realized that not only were we as actors and artists hungry to do that, but people are hungry to see it and receive it," she continues. "It’s a similar thing with the Harry Potter spin-off sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, which I have coming out in November. It’s been such a crazy experience being part of an epic world that has such an incredible fan base. It’s similar to filming the second season of Big Little Lies. The excitement can be turned into pressure for it to be great. But that also creates motivation."

Read Reese Witherspoon's full Harper's BAZAAR interview with Zoë Kravitz here.

Rachel Epstein is a writer, editor, and content strategist based in New York City. Most recently, she was the Managing Editor at Coveteur, where she oversaw the site’s day-to-day editorial operations. Previously, she was an editor at Marie Claire, where she wrote and edited culture, politics, and lifestyle stories ranging from op-eds to profiles to ambitious packages. She also launched and managed the site’s virtual book club, #ReadWithMC. Offline, she’s likely watching a Heat game or finding a new coffee shop.