Shailene Woodley is once again fueling hopes for a third season of “Big Little Lies,” offering her most playful update yet on the long-awaited HBO revival during an appearance at the 2026 Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Speaking exclusively to E! News on Sunday, September 6, the actress, who plays Jane Chapman on the Emmy-winning drama, kept the door wide open on a comeback while stopping short of confirming any hard details.
“That’s what I hear,” Woodley said with a coy smile when asked about the status of season three, referencing recent reporting that author Liane Moriarty’s new novel, “Big Little Truths,” will serve as the basis for the next chapter of the series. “So, I’m going to continue throwing that rumor mill out there and feeding it. You know that it is happening.”
“Big Little Truths,” released on August 25, is Moriarty’s first direct sequel to one of her own novels and picks up roughly a decade after the events of the original “Big Little Lies,” bringing back Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie as their children grow into teenagers and adults. Moriarty has previously told E! News that season three is “definitely in active, enthusiastic development,” with executive producers Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, along with series creator David E. Kelley, having already read and approved the manuscript.
No cast has been officially confirmed for a potential third season, though Woodley, Witherspoon, Kidman, Laura Dern, and Zoë Kravitz have each expressed interest in returning at various points over the past year. The original series, based on Moriarty’s 2014 novel, premiered in 2017 and became one of HBO’s most decorated shows, winning multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Awards across its first two seasons.
Details on the new season’s plot remain closely guarded, though Moriarty has cautioned that the show is expected to make “huge changes” from the book while still loosely following its central storyline, which follows the group of wealthy Monterey mothers reuniting around Madeline’s milestone birthday. Fans hoping for a quicker turnaround than the show’s usual gap between seasons will likely need to stay patient, as HBO has yet to announce a start date for production or a premiere window.
For now, Woodley’s comments mark the clearest signal yet that the Monterey Five may be reuniting on screen, even if the actress herself insists she’s simply keeping the rumor mill alive rather than confirming anything outright.
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M Adnan Akram is the founder and lead writer at Back Casting Room, where he covers celebrity biographies, family histories, and the lesser-known figures behind well-known names. His work focuses on separating verified public information from speculation, drawing on publicly available records, interviews, and credible reporting to build accurate, well-researched profiles.
With a particular interest in entertainment and pop culture, Adnan writes about everything from celebrity net worth breakdowns to the private individuals connected to famous names, the spouses, family members, and background figures whose stories rarely get told in full.
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