As we wait for Season Two of Big Little Lies, which starts this Sunday, let’s look back at the first season and in particular Reese Witherspoon’s performance as Madeline Martha Mackenzie. What she does is perhaps something only she can accomplish. She’s is working on several levels to deliver a riveting, enthralling and funny performance...
On one level Witherspoon takes this character that is abrasive and in your face and makes her irresistible to watch. Madeline is definitely someone who if you met in real life and you were on the wrong side of her, you are going to be hurt. Yet we love to watch her. She plays the comedy of that. Watch the way she blinks her eyes and says “Renata” in the first episode as she meets her nemesis on the schoolyard.
Then Witherspoon ups the ante by giving us depth, humanity and pathos. Watch as she charts Madeline’s relationship with her daughters and husband in the same episode. She’s heartbreaking as she explains to her husband that while she loves him, she can still be jealous of the life her ex built without her. Or when she completely breaks down when her elder daughter indicates that she loves her. She makes Madeline alive and recognizable.
Most nuanced, emotionally intelligent actors can achieve these two levels with the right material. But what is elusive to some performers is the next level that Witherspoon flies into. She takes all of that and makes the audience fall in love with her. We fall in love with the essence of Reese, the star and the actress. Because she’s Madeline but also because she’s Reese, winking at us while always staying in character and in the moment. She fully develops the character and inhabits her, yet adds recognizable traits that endear her more to the audience, particularly her longtime fans.
Are you ready for Season 2?