‘In Chats With Friends’, Complex

When Alison Oliver took a Zoom call with Sally Rooney last summer to talk about her lead role in “Conversations with Friends,” the new adaptation of the author’s debut novel, she couldn’t help but admire.

Rooney – and his job – seem to have that effect on people.

“I was such a big fan,” said 24-year-old Oliver. “I think he’s an incredible writer.”

Rooney’s popular novels are certainly aligned with the sensibility of a particular group: he’s been called “Salinger for the Snapchat generation” and “the first great Millennial writer.” And their stories were met with some kind of wild anticipation. (bkz: hot promotional campaignand illegal – and snowy — resale of preliminary copies of his third book “beautiful world where are you” last year.)

It’s no surprise, then, that “Conversations with Friends,” an adaptation of Rooney’s debut novel from 2017, is highly anticipated. Still, Rooney’s cult status isn’t the only thing that looms over the show, which hits Hulu on May 15. The show must also contend with the success of “Normal People.” TV adaptation of the popular BBC and Hulu related to Rooney’s later book.

“Normal People,” a love story between two teenagers from a small Irish town, received critical acclaim and awards following its spring 2020 release, earning Emmy, BAFTA, and Golden Globe nominations. It also offered A beacon of hope for the BBC In the midst of a teen audience crisis and gaining a passionate following online. (A silver chain worn by one of the characters now has its own Instagram account and the fans keep going stream and tune clips from the show for online music.)

“From this movie, it seems a bit unrealistic,” said Lenny Abrahamson, executive producer and director of both adaptations. He added that he is wary of comparisons between the two shows. “It would be a huge mistake to imagine or expect the same thing to happen again,” Abrahamson said. “I want this show to open up to the world, broadcast at its best, and let it be its own business.”

“Conversations” explores a complex web of relationships between four Dublin residents. The action begins when Frances (Oliver), a 21-year-old student at Trinity College, and her best friend and ex-girlfriend Bobbi (Sasha Lane) become friends with Melissa (Jemima Kirke), a writer in her 30s. Melissa introduces the couple to her husband, Nick (Joe Alwyn), a moderately famous actor.

Two students enter the couple’s world of fancy dinners, vacation homes, and book launch parties. Frances begins a full and tough relationship with Nick. Bobbi takes a romantic interest in Melissa. Meanwhile, Frances and Bobbi’s relationship has an air of intensity and uncertainty. Although they broke up a few years before the events on the show, they are close and painfully sensitive to each other.

Irish playwright Meadhbh McHugh, who adapted the five episodes, says the series is a meditation on interdependence, showing that “relationships don’t exist in a vacuum.” The relationships between the four characters are so sensitive that what changes in one relationship always affects the others. “It’s messy and messy, and that can be painful for those involved,” McHugh added, “but it captures something real about any relationship.”

Finding a way to create this emotional house of cards made the attunement process more complicated than “Normal People”.

“It was much more intense and much more difficult,” said Ed Guiney, executive producer of both shows.

This time, the writers and producers of the series had to relay Rooney’s novel without the author’s help. On “Normal People,” Rooney co-wrote the first half of the 12-episode series; She was cast for “Conversations With Friends” and read the first scripts. He also helped the team answer questions, ““There were things we really discussed or played together,” Abrahamson said. (Rooney declined to be interviewed for this article.)

“We would be very happy to have it,” Guiney said. “But he also has, as you know, a huge day job.”

Even in “Normal People,” Rooney’s first screenwriting debut, the desire to return to fiction “seemed too great”; “Beautiful World, Where Are You” she wrote during the filming of “Chats with Friends”.

Actually, the demonstrators Received the rights to “Chat with Friends” before “Normal People”; Guiney said they initially thought of “Conversations” as a movie, but struggled over how this story could play out as a movie. On the other hand, once they secured the rights to “Normal People”, the form it would take—a half-hour television series per episode—was immediately obvious to them.

Struggling with “Normal People” is first to make clear: On screen, Rooney’s “low-key” stories are best told in episodic form, Abrahamson said.

Its characters also benefit from a longer runtime. Guiney explained that the people living in Rooney’s world can seem privileged: In “The Conversations,” the audience witnesses the emotional turmoil of a famous actor, a successful writer, and two students at one of Ireland’s top universities. “Their issues are really important and important to them,” Guiney said, “but you have to spend time with these characters to have some kind of empathy with them.”

Here we invite you to empathize with Frances. An archetypal Roonian hero, highly intelligent and observant, yet cold-blooded and self-aware, he has a habit of ruminating rather than communicating. A recent graduate of his producer, The Lyre Academy, the same Irish drama school, Oliver portrays it with depth and innocence. Paul MescalThe chain star of “Normal People”.

Oliver’s portrayal may come as a surprise to some fans of the book. Onscreen, Frances looks more sympathetic—less cold and arched, and perhaps more insecure and quietly overwhelmed than she appears on the page.

“I think her agility could be a kind of defense mechanism,” McHugh said, “but we don’t have access to Frances’ inner thoughts on screen like in the novel, and so you want to see what vulnerability she’s exploiting.”

It was this fragility of the performance that drew the producers to Oliver when they saw his audition tape, Abrahamson said. “He understood a lot from the character,” Abrahamson said, “not in an obvious way.”

Oliver recalled in his Zoom conversation with Rooney that the author hadn’t been very appreciative of how he should have portrayed Frances, leaving Oliver room for comment. However, Rooney accepted Oliver’s request for cultural reference points so he could better understand Frances; this includes a playlist Rooney made for the character while writing “Chats with Friends.” Favorite song from Oliver’s playlist”Too darkA song by Frankie Cosmos that feels like it was written just for Frances. (The song begins like this: “I wish I had some control / You’d totally embarrass me / I feel so bad.”)

Rooney may have taken a creative step back, but Oliver said his approach to taking charge could also come from a reliable place. “I think after doing ‘Normal People’, he knew this was in very good hands,” he said.

It was a sentiment echoed by the entertainer. “We had a great time working together on the first one,” Guiney said, adding that she believes Rooney was happy with the way the show was going.

“This is really important to us,” he said, “it feels like we did a good job.”