It’s been a little over a year since Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington announced they were bringing Celeste Ng’s bestselling novel Little Fires Everywhere to the screen— and now we have our first look at their upcoming Hulu series.
The novel takes place in an affluent Ohio suburb and centers on a mysterious arson and a controversial adoption of a Chinese-American baby, in which the white adopted parents fight the birth mother for custody. Witherspoon stars in the series as Elena, the matriarch of the well-to-do Richardson family, while Washington plays Mia Warren, an enigmatic mother who, along with her daughter, upend the Richardson’s lives.
Joshua Jackson has been cast as Bill Richardson, a Shaker Heights attorney who is husband to the strong-willed Elena and father to Lexie (Jade Pettyjohn), Trip (Jordan Elsass), Moody (Gavin Lewis), and his youngest and most problematic child, Izzy (Megan Stott). When Bill agrees to represent family friends in a custody battle, his life (and marriage) only get more complicated.
The book was Witherspoon’s book club’s September pick, and the actress quickly scooped up the rights for adaptation through her production company, Hello Sunshine. The show will be produced in conjunction with ABC Signature Studios and Kerry Washington’s Simpson Street.
Little Fires Everywhere marks Washington’s first series regular role since starring as Olivia Pope on ABC’s long-running Shonda Rhimes drama Scandal. In addition to the Meryl Streep-featuring second season of Big Little Lies, Witherspoon has also announced she will co-host The Morning Show with Jennifer Aniston for Apple. Witherspoon’s company is also executive-producing a Kristin Wiig comedy and an Octavia Spencer vehicle, also for Apple.
Liz Tigelaar (Life Unexpected, Bates Motel) serves as writer and showrunner on Little Fires Everywhere, with Ng on board as a producer.
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