Is Big Little Lies About to Majorly Deviate from the Novel in Season 2?

The cast ofBig Little Lies is already hard at work creating Season 2 of HBO's breakout drama, but that doesn't mean they're done with the casting process yet. The Hollywood Reporterbroke the news today that Martin Donovan would be joining the cast for Season 2 as Bonnie's (Zoë Kravitz) father, Martin Howard.

Bonnie's father was a part of the original novel by Liane Moriarty, but that character was omitted from the HBO series' first season. If the show decides to stay close to its source material, his inclusion could shed light on a lot of Bonnie's choices in Season 1, but it sounds like Big Little Lies could be branching off in a new direction.

In the book, the girls find out after Perry's (Alexander Skarsgard) death that Bonnie's father was abusive, which is why she recognized and had such a strong reaction to Perry's abuse of Celeste (Nicole Kidman). That factor plays into their decision to cover for Bonnie and call the whole thing an accident, raising questions from investigators.

Here's where things get interesting though...

Big Little Lies: Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman Snuggle Up in First Season 2 Photo

Donovan will play opposite Crystal Fox, who has been cast as Bonnie's mother, Elizabeth Howard. Her character is described as "controlling and emotionally abusive," which suggests the show might be veering away from making Bonnie's father the abuser in her household, choosing instead to shift that storyline onto the mother/daughter dynamic. There's nothing that says both Bonnie's parents can't be abusive in their own ways -- though our hearts would break for her if that was the case -- but making this kind of big shift to the story seems right up Big Little Lies' alley. After doing such a great job highlighting its complex female characters in Season 1, it might be interesting to see them depict a female abuser this time around.

Big Little Lies Season 1 is currently streaming on HBO Now.