Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington face off in the first teaser trailer for Hulu's Little Fires Everywhere. The eight-episode miniseries, premiering March 18, positions the actresses against each other as mothers set on a collision course by their children.
Witherspoon plays Elena Richardson, a pearls-and-cardigans housewife who rents out a home in her quaint Ohio suburb to the enigmatic Mia Warren (Washington) and her teenage daughter, Pearl (Lexi Underwood). It doesn't take long for Elena's privilege to rear its head; the new footage also shows her condescendingly offering Mia a job as her maid.
"A good mother makes good choices," Elena insists.
"You didn't make good choices," Mia shoots back. "You had good choices."
Though the trailer shows them locked in conflict, the real-life buddies appeared together and very much unified at the Television Critics Association press tour Friday. The actor-producers got into a veritable love fest as they talked about the series and why they wanted to work together on bringing Celeste Ng's 2017 best-selling novel of the same name to life. "It was a great partnership," said Witherspoon, who, like Washington, is an executive producer on the series. "I love that Kerry works as hard as I do."
Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets and, per the show's official description,"the danger in believing that following the rules can avert disaster." Washington said that, because of the nature of the story's racial and socio-political elements, they had to bare themselves and reveal intimate personal details, as women, as mothers, as wives. "We really revealed ourselves," Washington said of her working relationship with Witherspoon. "I trust her."
Witherspoon and Washington executive produce the series alongside showrunner Liz Tigelaar, Lauren Neustadter, and Pilar Savone. Joshua Jackson also stars, and Jesse Williams is set to recur.
Little Fires Everywhere premieres Wednesday, March 18 on Hulu.
Additional reporting by Malcolm Venable
Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon, Little Fires Everywhere
