Jane Campion and Gerard Lee’s Top of the Lake is, as was previously reported, returning for a second season, this time set in Sydney. And with this change of location comes a partially new cast of characters. It just so happens that one of these Sydney-dwellers will be played by one of Australia’s most famous actors: Nicole Kidman.
Kidman has worked with Top of the Lake director/writer Jane Campion in the past, in The Portrait of a Lady and serving as a producer on In the Cut. Because of their collaborative history, Campion actually wrote a character in the new season with Kidman in mind.
The news was first reported in The Daily Mail in a story that actually focused on Kidman’s role in as molecular biologist Rosalind Franklin, in the West End production, Photograph 51. Kidman didn’t elaborate at all on the role, though she did say, relatedly, that she favors the roles of “odd people, who live odd lives…As you get older, don’t get safer. Get crazier. That’s my mantra.” Those who watched the first season — which uncovered the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of a pregnant teen in a lakeside town — won’t be at all surprised that Kidman could find such a role in Top of the Lake.
Outside of this casting news, it’d already been revealed that Elisabeth Moss will be returning as Detective Robin Griffin, and that Campion will be writing all episodes along with Lee, as well as co-directing with a yet-unnamed collaborator.
Season 2 was commissioned by BBC2, and goes into preproduction in December.
Update: Kidman’s publicist contacted Vanity Fair to say the news was “not true”; Kidman will be collaborating with Campion soon, per the Daily Mail interview, but apparently that collaboration will not be Top of the Lake. Let the rampant speculation begin!
[Via /Film]