Jenga with Meryl Streep: Good fun and serious acting for the child stars of Big Little Lies

As career breaks go, making your debut alongside Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep ain’t half bad. Throw on serious fun off-set and the child stars of Big Little Lies have got it great.

When it comes to Big Little Lies, the show’s star and co executive producer Nicole Kidman would often take her work home — especially when it came to playing screen mum to twin 11-year-old actors, Cameron and Nicholas Crovetti.

And her little co-stars loved her for it.

“We got to go over to her house all the time,” beams Cameron, who plays Kidman’s on-screen son, Josh Wright in the hit HBO and Foxtel drama series.

“She has two daughters our age [Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret] and we would play with them a lot — they’re great,” adds Nicholas, who plays Max.

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Cameron Crovetti and Nicholas Crovetti attend HBO's Big Little Lies Season 2 premiere. Picture: Getty

The two adorable, crazily eloquent, eleven-year-olds, who made their acting debut in BLL, couldn’t be further from the bratty, troubled twins they portray on screen.

The dysfunction of their TV parents put the boys at the heart of some of the most intense scenes, which continues in the new season two, but they say Kidman not only helped them work through the material but reminded them to have fun, too.

“I love being on the show and getting to work with all the people. And Nicole, she just helps us a lot,” smiles Nicholas.

“It’s really, really fun.”

“And you get to do stuff like this!” yelps Cameron, at the show’s high-energy NY premiere.

The young stars of Big Little lies with Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern and Kathryn Newton. Picture: Getty Images,)

Walking the blue carpet, the tiny stars are as confident as the bigger names who also strut their stuff, including Kidman and their on-screen dad, Alexander Skarsgard.

While they give Kidman rave reviews for her supportive role, one co-star they weren’t so familiar proved herself a favourite with the boys.

No less than Meryl Streep, who plays their inquisitive and quirky grandmother, Mary Louise.

“We’d never heard of Meryl Streep before,” Cameron admits, with a grin.

“But then our mum showed us a ton of movies like The Devil Wears Prada and Death Becomes Her — we love that movie, don’t we?” Nicholas offers.

Showing how own maternal instincts, the three-time, Oscar-winner knew just how to get in the boys’ good books.

“She got us a Jenga set,” Cameron says, excitedly.

“And she didn’t even know us and she gave us a Jenga set and she sat down and played it with us,” adds Nicholas. “That was just so cool.”

MEET THE LITTLE BIG GUYS OF BIG LITTLE LIES

Iain Armitage is Ziggy Chapman

Not only a hit on BLL, Iain scored the lead in the Big Bang Theory spin-off as Young Sheldon. He also hosts his own YouTube channel, as a bow-tie wearing theatre critic.

Darby Camp is Chloe Mackenzie

This musical star, with grand ambitions, is going places, after just being cast in the reboot of Benji.

Ivy George is Amabella Klein

Boasts the biggest CV of all the kids on BLL, making her acting debut back in 2014, with credits including Paranormal Activity, Girl Meets World and the Twin Peaks revival.

Chloe Coleman is Skye Carlson

She was also big before BLL, with guest roles in Glee, Transparent and Superstore.

* Big Little Lies airs 11am/8.30pm, Monday, Fox Showcase

Originally published as Jenga with Meryl Streep: Good fun and serious acting for the child stars of Big Little Lies