About “Big Little Lies” in a few words:

“Big Little Lies” is a popular drama series based on the novel by Liane Moriarty. The show explores the lives of a group of wealthy families in Monterey, California, who become embroiled in a web of secrets and lies after a shocking event occurs at a school fundraiser. The series stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz, and Meryl Streep, and has won numerous awards for its talented cast, compelling storyline, and stunning cinematography.

Meet the characters from Big Little Lies

Madeline Martha Mackenzie

Madeline is loud, gorgeous, and the kind of person who will plan your life and then throw glitter on it whether you asked or not. She’s the social glue — PTA queen, nostalgia hoarder, and I’m pretty sure she owns twelve identical dresses “just in case” (okay maybe nine). She can be hilariously petty one minute and heartbreakingly loyal the next, like she’s allergic to small talk but allergic to emptiness even more. Also she remembers everyone’s birthdays but will definitely lose her keys in the one place she swore she didn’t — very human, very chaotic, very Madeline.

Celeste Wright

Celeste is slow-burn magnetism wrapped in perfect clothes and an almost painful politeness that hides a hurricane. She’s elegant and quiet but there’s this simmering, terrifying intensity beneath the surface — like porcelain that could snap or sweep you up, depends on the day. She loves pretty things, classical music, cereal at midnight, and has the kind of smile that looks calm until it doesn’t; sometimes she seems fragile, sometimes fierce, and both are true at once. Also, tiny weird detail: she’ll arrange flowers by color and then forget where she put her phone, which feels symbolic but also just her.

Jane Chapman

Jane is the mysterious, principled outsider who carries her past like a secret but also like a badge — serious but not showy about it. She’s practical, quietly fierce, protective in that weird, stubborn way that makes you want to stand behind her, and she’s got this uncanny calm when things go sideways. She sketches things in little notebooks and then insists she never draws, which is exactly her — contradictory and real. Honestly, she’s the kind of person who makes you both nervous and relieved to be alive, in the best way.

Bonnie Carlson

Bonnie is grounded and slightly unnerving in the most honest way possible — calm, earthy, protective, and harboring a complicated streak of guilt or something darker. She’s into peace and healing (and probably knows the name of every plant in the neighborhood), but don’t be fooled; there’s a simmering strength and occasional prickliness under that zen exterior. She’ll bake you a pie and then quietly judge you for eating the whole thing, and also collect smooth stones in a pocket like a nervous habit. Small contradictions? Yes: so serene she could lead a retreat, but also will snap like a twig when pushed.

Ed Mackenzie

Ed is the decent, steady kind of guy who tries really hard to be the nice, reliable husband and father — kind of the “glue” but quieter than Madeline’s glue. He’s patient, a little baffled by the chaos around him, and very into fixing things (literal and emotional), which makes him endearing and sometimes painfully obvious. He tells the world corny jokes and secretly keeps a stack of bad romantic poems that he swears are “for later,” and he’s both more complicated and less dramatic than he seems. Also he’ll fall asleep anywhere — living room, car, you name it — which is both adorable and incriminating.

Renata Klein

Renata is fire with a business card and a lawsuit at the ready; she’s fiercely ambitious, wildly controlling, and will ballroom-dance through a boardroom just to make a point. She’s the kind of mother who has a binder for her child’s binder, is allergic to incompetence, and has opinions about everyone’s life choices (and will send a strongly worded email). She’s confident and occasionally terrifying, but also secretly insecure in ways she’d never admit, which makes her both formidable and oddly human. Quirk: she times things like an Olympic event and will absolutely bring a labeled snack to a party — labeled in three languages.

Nathan Carlson

Nathan is the quiet, steady presence who mostly wants to keep the peace and maybe fix your sink while he’s at it. He doesn’t love drama and tries to be the reasonable one, but he’s not a background extra — he’s loyal and can be surprisingly stubborn in gentle ways. He’s practical, a little old-fashioned, and perhaps too nice for the level of chaos he lives in, which makes him quietly heroic. Also he has this weird habit of humming to himself when thinking, which makes him oddly soothing and slightly suspicious at the same time.

Perry Wright

Perry is the terrifyingly smooth, charming surface with a shadow underneath — polished, successful, and capable of being sweet in public while being something else entirely behind closed doors. He’s the type who can smile at a dinner and then make you feel invisible in a conversation, all with the same expression, and that duality is what makes him so dangerous. He enjoys control, appears confident, but you can almost see the cracks if you stare long enough — scary and magnetic, UGH. Little weird detail: he collects cufflinks but always loses one, which somehow feels symbolic and also annoyingly specific.

Gordon Klein

Gordon is the mild-mannered, slightly awkward guy who’s trying to be supportive but often gets steamrolled by intensity (Renata, mainly). He’s reasonable and tired of conflict, likes spreadsheets, apologizes too much, and has a fondness for small, practical gifts that nobody asked for but everyone kind of appreciates. He’s the calming punctuation in a sentence of all caps, the “did you take your umbrella?” of the friend group, and he secretly practices calm breathing in the garage. Quirky detail: he owns a tie for every mood and will tell you which tie you should wear for funerals vs. birthday brunch.

Ziggy Chapman

Ziggy is young, scrappy, sensitive, and allergic to being boxed in — a kid with quick eyes, a stubborn streak, and more imagination than the neighborhood expects. He’s loud when he needs to be and weirdly solemn staring at a puddle the next minute, which is the poetic unpredictability of small humans. He collects little treasures (rock, broken toy, dead leaf) like they’re rare artifacts and can both melt your heart and make you want to hide the glassware in five seconds. Also he’ll insist he’s fine and then tell you everything in the middle of the night; very mysterious and also very not.

Chloe Mackenzie

Chloe is teen drama personified — sharp, opinionated, glamorous in a messily earnest way, and absolutely convinced she’s always right (which sometimes she is). She’s dramatic, loyal-ish, and has this mix of vanity and actual depth that shows up when you least expect it. She’ll post a selfie then delete it, then argue philosophy at dinner, and she probably has a specific playlist for every minor mood swing. Tiny inconsistency: she claims to hate old movies but knows all the lines to one in the attic — obviously.

Abigail Carlson

Abigail seems small and quiet but she carries a mountain in her eyes, like she’s old-souled and a little haunted, and also very observant. She’s polite and a touch eerie in how she notices tiny details, then folds them into behaviors that make you wonder what she’s thinking — cute and unsettling in equal measure. She’s deeply loyal to the people she loves but has moods that come on sudden and thunderous, like summer weather. Quirky note: she arranges forks by size and will stare at a painting until it blinks back, which may be cute or suspicious, depending on the day.