Modern Beauty Trends: In: Meryl Streep. “Big Little Lies.”

Thursday, January 25, 2018

In: Meryl Streep. “Big Little Lies.” | Out: Everything Else

Meryl Streep is joining this show you may have heard of.
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"Everything that you want to be, you already are, and you are simply on the path of discovering it.” — Alicia Keys

Meryl Streep in Big Little Lies 2

Literally Everything Else

This is how we imagine it went down at HBO HQ: “Sure, Big Little Lies is a textured show about exploring the complicated nature of motherhood and modern femininity itself, but, in another sense, it is also about bringing together some of the greatest actresses of a generation in one project,” one exec must have said. “In that sense, there’s only person we could ask to join season two to really up the game. You know exactly who I mean. I don’t even have to say her name.” The room must have fell into silent disbelief. “Look, there’s no hurt in asking.” Whatever the case, someone did ask, and she said yes. Meryl Streep is joining Big Little Lies as Nicole Kidman’s character’s mother-in-law. It’s like, I don’t know, finding out Batman joined The Avengers or something. Streep’s character arrives in town concerned about her grandchildren and with questions about the death of her son. That is sure to provide lots of Kidman vs. Streep scenes, which, honestly, if HBO wanted us to pay extra money for, we would. Another tidbit: Season two may also include appearances from the parents of Zoë Kravitz’s character, Bonnie, perhaps opening up an opportunity for yet another superstar actress to join the cast. Angela Bassett seems like an obvious choice, but if Viola Davis was available, we wouldn’t mind. (There’s also Kravitz’s own mother, Lisa Bonet.) Oh, and folks, we’d regret to also exclude what would have been the biggest TV news if this wasn’t announced: CBS is rebooting Murphy Brown with Candice Bergen. Honestly, what a blessed time for fans of actresses.

Choosing Love Over Social Media

Instagram Addiction

In The Little Mermaid, Ariel was willing to give up her voice to land her prince. In modern, real-life fairy tales, the equivalent is giving up your social media. Meghan Markle went nearly dark on her social media after friend Violet von Westenholz introduced her to Prince Harry only to officially delete her accounts after the engagement. Now, the rumored beau of an American “princess” has followed suit. Malia Obama was spotted hanging out with fellow 19-year-old Harvard student Rory Farquharson, a Brit, over the weekend, leading to speculation of a romance. Farquharson has now mysteriously deleted his digital trail as well. Seems like a small price to pay for a shot at love. Plus, you can always set up a “finsta” if you really miss the memes.

Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer’s Friendship

The Wage Gap

On Saturday Night Live this past weekend, Jessica Chastain was ready to down a bottle of white wine on live television and throw SNL tradition to the wind because, hey, “What even matters anymore?”. However, in real life, Chastain hasn’t given up all hope, and there’s still plenty of fights she thinks are worth fighting. The feminist has long been outspoken about Hollywood’s pay gap and is even helping other actresses achieve parity. It was recently announced that Chastain would reteam with her The Help costar Octavia Spencer for an upcoming holiday film, and it turns out the pair banded together to make sure they got paid equally. “[Chastain] was like, ‘It’s time that women get paid as much as men.’ I'm like, 'Yeah, Jessica, it's time!'” Spencer recently revealed. “And then I said, ‘But here’s the thing, women of color on that spectrum, we make far less than white women. So, if we’re gonna have that conversation about pay equity, we gotta bring the women of color to the table.’ And I told her my story, and we talked numbers, and she was quiet, and she said she had no idea that that’s what it was like for women of color.” Chastain took it to heart. “I love that woman, because she’s walking the walk and she’s actually talking the talk. Fast forward to last week, we’re making five times what we asked for,” said Spencer after revealing that the two actresses will get paid equally for the film.