BFFS OR BIG LITTLE LIES?
IT WAS ONLY A FEW MONTHS ago that Nicole Kidman said of her Big Little Lies co-star Reese Witherspoon, ‘We’re very, very close friends. We’re able to talk about everything.’
But according to insiders, that’s not strictly true. Apparently, an intense rivalry has erupted between the pair after they were both nominated for a Lead Actress Emmy for their hit TV drama, which won 16 nominations in total for the September ceremony.
‘Reese and Nicole will both be campaigning hard to win that Emmy,’ said a source. ‘Reese has always been ruthlessly competitive and ambitious in her career and she hasn’t lost that. But Nicole is enjoying a second coming in hers. At the moment, all eyes are on her and the awards she has been nominated for. This is the year that she really wants to take home an Emmy.’
Nicole, 50, and Reese, 41, bought the rights to the show and both worked as producers, with Reese recently hinting that a second series is already in the pipeline. But despite mutual gushing in interviews, there is said to have been friction on set.
Earlier this year, there were reports of heightened tension during filming, with Reese even saying she was ‘losing her mind’ before adding, ‘I started to scream, and I’ve never screamed like this. Like, howling.’ She later admitted that Nicole was forced to step in to defuse the situation.
‘There was definitely a lot of drama while they were filming Big Little Lies,’ continued the source. ‘There was a lot of tension between Reese and Nicole because, while they’ve been friends for years, it was the first time they’d worked together.
‘Things got quite heated from time to time and it mainly stemmed from Reese, who was a lot more involved with the production than the other actresses. It left Nicole acting as a mediator to try to keep the peace.
‘In public, it’s all air kisses, but things got so fiery that people on set were terrified to be around them. It reached a point where people were walking on eggshells.’
Last week, Nicole opened up about going up against Reese for the Emmy (for Lead Actress in a Limited Series or TV movie), saying, ‘I’m just feeling a whole lot of wow. I think we see it as a union. We’ve always been a team, we will always be a team. This is a sweet spot for all of us.’
But others aren’t so sure. As one insider put it, ‘Those who know both of them well are joking that their real acting skills will come out if either of them wins it. One of them will be doing their very best to hide their disappointment.’