After weeks of anticipation, season 2 of HBO’s smash hit series Big Little Lies premiered on Monday night and boy, did it deliver on the drama!
Meryl Streep joined the star-studded cast, alongside Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz, and Laura Dern, and from the very first episode the three-time Oscar winner proved exactly why she’s one of the most celebrated actors of our time.
Streep plays Mary-Louise, the mother of Alexander Skarsgard’s terrifying character Perry and mother-in-law to Kidman’s character Celeste, and she arrives in Monterey to find out exactly how her son died – and more importantly, who is responsible.
The 69-year-old expertly channels Mary-Louise’s intense grief and rage perfectly.
But there is one particular moment that has fans already predicting Streep’s exceptional performance will nab her an Emmy Award, the most prestigious gong in television.
In a scene which has already gone viral, Mary-Louise sits alongside Celeste and her two twin boys at the dinner table, clearly still wrought with grief and anger, she emits a terrifying scream that is seriously blood-curdling.
“The other day I was with some friends and their sons, not a patch on your dad, not a patch! I just felt so angry, angry that their mediocre, second-rate, pudgy, balding, middle-management sons are still alive and my Perry, my Perry … I just wanted to scream,” Mary-Louise says to her grandsons.
“So you know what I did? I did scream. You want to hear it? Ok,” she says, steadying herself, then letting out a horrific screech.
(You can watch the terrifying moment in the video player at the top of this article).
The moment Meryl’s character Mary-Louise screams at the top of her lungs.
(Credit: HBO)Big Little Lies fans cannot stop talking about this electrifying moment and they’re already predicted that Streep will pick up a bunch of awards for her incredible performance.
“Wow. That scream. That’s an Emmy scream. She’s the Queen,” wrote one fan, while another said, “This moment made the whole episode for me. My God that shriek.”
Others commented that the connection between Perry’s childhood and his nature as an adult was made all too clear in that one scene.
“And in under 2 minutes you got a lot of Perry’s background growing up,” one YouTube commenter said, while another added, “She’s actually pretty scary. Just like Perry. Good stuff”.
READ NEXT: Nicole Kidman talks Big Little Lies season 2
We are shook by Meryl’s incredible performance.
(Credit: HBO)But it was this bang-on comment on HBO’s YouTube channel that really sums up exactly why Meryl Streep’s performance in this debut episode was so damn incredible.
“You know why Meryl Streep is a legend and continues to amaze people? It’s because of scenes like this,” the commenter began.
“I’m not even talking about her screaming, any actor can take a second to gather themselves and scream bloody murder like that. It’s her acting before the scream that makes her so amazing.
“Think about it, Meryl Streep is one of the most decorated and praised actresses of all-time. She has won and been nominated for so many awards that I bet she can’t remember them all. But it’s not the fact that she’s Meryl Streep, an A-List Actor who does amazing work. It’s because when you see her character’s. you don’t see Meryl Streep. Like in this scene here, I don’t see Mirana from The Devil Wears Prada, I don’t see the lady from Osage County, the lady from The Post, the award winning character from Sophie’s Choice, or that crazy lady from Mamma Mia or that film where she played an old age rockstar who disregards her kids.
“I don’t see any of those characters, I don’t even see Meryl Streep. I see an older housewife who has lost her son and who is losing her mind over the loss. I see a depressed woman who is really losing it.
“It one thing for an actor to play a role convincingly, it’s something completely different when that actress makes you forget that she’s an actress who has previous work and makes you actually believe the person on screen that you’re seeing is a real person. That’s why Meryl Streep is a legend.”
WATCH BELOW: Big Little Lies season 2 trailer. Story continues after video
It’s so true!
We cannot wait to see more of Meryl and the terrifying Mary-Louise.
Big Little Lies airs on Mondays at 8.30pm on Foxtel’s Showcase.
