Robert De Niro Wants to Play Meryl Streep’s Husband in Big Little Lies Season Two

Robert De Niro is arguably one of Hollywood’s most accomplished actors—as is Meryl Streep—and the former Oscar-winning film legend has expressed an interest in starring alongside the latter in the second season of HBO’s Big Little Lies.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight at a New York City event promoting the Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday, De Niro, asked if he would consider playing Streep’s husband in the hit drama’s forthcoming second season, said:

Yeah, sure I would. Television is not the way it was when I was a young actor. It’s totally different. They’re doing very good work in television.

Indeed, though the 74-year-old actor has done far more in film than TV, he has been gravitating more and more towards the small screen of late, as have many top actors. De Niro received his first-ever Emmy nomination last summer for his work on the HBO film The Wizard of Lies, in which he portrayed notorious Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff. De Niro will also appear in David O. Russell’s Amazon mafia drama alongside Julianne Moore.

Considering De Niro already has a fruitful relationship with HBO, and Big Little Lies has quickly become one of TV’s most acclaimed (and star-studded) prestige dramas, this pairing makes plenty of sense, though it appears purely hypothetical for the moment. For all we know, David E. Kelley hasn’t even written a husband to Streep’s character into his season two scripts.

As for what we do know about season two, Big Little Lies star Laura Dern recently shared a first-look photo from the show’s set, which accompanied the news that its principal cast—including Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, Adam Scott, Iain Armitage, James Tupper and Jeffrey Nordling—will return for season two.

Streep—with whom De Niro has an extensive history—joined the cast in January, and will portray Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Alexander Skarsgaard’s Perry Wright. Streep and De Niro have previously shared the screen in the Oscar-winning 1978 drama The Deer Hunter and 1984’s Falling in Love, in which they … wait for it … fell in love. Third time’s the charm, eh?

The 17th annual Tribeca Film Fest takes place April 18-29 in NYC, while Big Little Lies is expected to return in 2019. Keep eyes on Paste for more info on the show.