Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley film in Monterey

You may be seeing some famous faces on the Central Coast this week. Wednesday marks day three of filming the HBO series “Big Little Lies.”

On Tuesday, film crews started out in Pacific Grove.

“So this is a scene between two of our male leads, the characters of Ed and Nathan. And they’re having a kind of heated conversation about their families,” Series Developer Bruna Papandrea said.

Crews then moved to Pier 2 in Monterey, where Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley and Nicole Kidman filmed a few scenes.

Producers are developing the book “Big Little Lies” into a seven part series for HBO.
Location managers say setting the series in Monterey was a no-brainer, but that it takes a mindful approach to film in such a special place.

“It’s a beautiful, kind of untouched town and we’ve been really quite respectful of the environment and the people,” Papandrea said.

That’s something the mayor of Pacific Grove says the community appreciates.

“What’s amazing to me is how carefully the crew has been working here on our coastline and really I think observing the concern we’ve always had for protecting our environment. And they’re very much fitting into that,” Mayor Bill Kampe said.

Meanwhile, the filmmakers have a lot of action to fit in. The series is a dark “dramedy” about three mothers whose perfect lives unravel.

Crews will be here all week, and then back again later in the year.