You Tell Us: Is Nicole Kidman Trying to Yank Away the ‘Big Little Lies’ Emmy From Reese Witherspoon?
There was already one well-known feud in the Limited Series categories at Sunday night’s Emmys with Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange’s Feud: Bette and Joan. Some of us were anticipating either Sarandon or Lange would take home the Outstanding Lead Actress award (which went to Nicole Kidman), recreating the infamous Bette Davis and Joan Crawford feud at the 1963 Oscars. But HBO’s Big Little Lies trumped the limited series categories last night, and the internet has been ablaze with theories of subtle shade going down between the cast. Did Laura Dern snub Reese Witherspoon, and did Kidman and Witherspoon tussle over their Emmy statuette?
First things first: The Laura Dern Snub. The internet had a field day over an awkward moment when Dern was named Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series. When the actress got up from her seat, she hugged both her costars Shailene Woodley (also nominated) and Kidman, but people on Twitter noticed Dern seemingly skipped over her third costar sitting in front of her, Witherspoon. Was Dern intentionally avoiding Witherspoon, or did the two hug before the camera cut to Dern’s reaction? (Or maybe she was just too excited and forgot, understandably.)
But wait, there may be more to this Reese snubbing conspiracy theory. When Big Little Lies was named Outstanding Limited Series and the HBO cast rushed to the stage, Witherspoon was the first one to reach the mic. The actress even said in her speech that she and Kidman agreed they’d let the microphone choose who would speak first (whatever that means), which Kidman giggled at:
But hold up – what’s going on there between their hands? *ZOOM* *ENHANCE*
Is it just us, or does it look like Kidman is trying to yank the Emmy out of Witherspoon’s hand in a discreet little tug-a-war? Maybe she’s just trying to share holding duties – those things ought to be pretty heavy, right? Or perhaps Kidman – who had already won her very own (and first) Emmy award earlier in the night – wanted to give her kids one more reminder for why she never tucked them in at night?
Eventually Kidman and Witherspoon ended their speech holding hands, with the latter celebrating the strengths of friendship among the cast and crew. So no, there’s probably no shade among the Big Little Lies cast, but one can dream of a future season of Feud: Big Little Lies. If anything, it’d get these actresses back on the same show together.