Emmy FYC: Reese Witherspoon in HBO’s ‘Big Little Lies’

We shouldn’t forget that Reese Witherspoon delivers a career-best performance in HBO’s Big Little Lies. Please consider her for Limited Series Lead Actress.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie emerges as a stacked category every year. This year’s line-up of nominees is no different. As of now, it seems everyone predicts either Nicole Kidman will win her first Emmy® for Big Little Lies or Jessica Lange will take home another Emmy for her portrayal of Hollywood legend Joan Crawford in Feud: Bette and Joan. These are two huge performances, but voters shouldn’t forget about Reese Witherspoon as Madeline Martha Mackenzie.

Witherspoon always carried a charming ease to her. Early in her career, she received the America’s Sweetheart mantle, but that magnetism is part of the reason why Madeline is such a joy to watch on screen. There is a confidence that exudes from Madeline in almost every scene she’s in, whether she’s sparring with Laura Dern’s Renata as they pick up their kids from school or if she’s trying to gain control of her family in a dinner scene in her kitchen.

Madeline is not a one-note, bitchy soccer mom. Don’t get me wrong, Madeline can hurl some obscenities your way. “Get laid, bitch!” is one of the best lines of the entire season. Instead of a hollow, cliched desperate housewife, Witherspoon imbues Madeline with a instinctive mama ferocity that also looks great dressed to kill as serves up some cold hard truth.

Of the four main women in Big Little Lies, Madeline might be the toughest one to nail–and that’s not to diminish the powerful work from Kidman, Dern, and Shailene Woodley. Madeline spars with husband Ed (Adam Scott) but then dishes out parental wisdom to Woodley’s Jane with a genuine maternal intention. You need an actress like Reese Witherspoon to capture that charm and effervescence. yet, she also means business when she goes to toe-to-toe with other characters. Witherspoon is no longer considered America’s Sweetheart (thank God we have almost stopped brandishing young actresses with that title). Her experience in other roles gives her the weight to play a tricky role like Madeline. She’s walking a tightrope throughout the entire series.

Madeline is a fierce friend and a mother who never claims to be perfect. You want her in your corner, and we should be in hers.

Vote Reese Witherspoon for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series/TV Movie.