Conversations with Friends is due to broadcast on RTÉ, BBC and Hulu in Spring 2022 Where Normal People is about two people - Connell and Marianne - in one relationship, Conversations with Friends is about four people – Frances, Bobbi, Nick and Melissa - in three relationships. ‘There are more complex dynamics in the interactions, and there’s a “cooler” tone in terms of temperature because it’s less obviously romantic.’ A clear point of difference is that, unlike Normal People and unlike “pretty much 99% of what you see”, Conversations with Friends is shot on film instead of digitally. ‘The look of high-end digital can tend to converge, so Susie Lavelle, the Director of Photography and I wanted to avoid repeating the look of Normal People in the most basic way. I’m finding that shooting on film opens up an emotional space that allows us to be very honest and that gives texture. I haven’t shot on film since Garage [2007] - even finding the crew to do this was a challenge.’ Filming takes place in Dublin, though they’re doing some shooting in Belfast, and there are scenes in Croatia where the four go on holiday. It’s his first shoot since the pandemic began. ‘Well, I did a one-day thing for Comic Relief – a mash up of Connell, Marianne and the Hot Priest from Fleabag, Irish actor Andrew Scott – which I had to direct by zoom. Never to be repeated!’ With a COVID coordinator and constant testing on set, he feared pandemic restrictions might get in the way but ‘in terms of the actual shoot, once we got the actors on set, it’s been normal – but restrictions have affected everything else. There’s no hanging out after hours; everyone goes home, back to their apartments or hotels - even at lunch, we eat separately. So much of the normal silliness that happens behind the scenes is gone - I can’t share any breakout bad behaviour because there hasn’t been any! Everyone is super lovely and totally exhausted by the end of the day.’ He is directing seven episodes and British director, Leanne Welham (His Dark Materials) is directing five. He co- directed Normal People with Hettie Macdonald and he says it’s important to have the gender balance ‘in terms of engaging with Sally’s writing, but also, more generally, to get away from the deep historic imbalances in this industry.’ In the book, all four lead characters are Irish, but in the series, Melissa, played by Jemima Kirke (of Girls fame) is British, and Bobbi, played by Sasha Lane ( American Honey ) is African American. Nick is Irish but played by the British actor Joe Alwyn ( The Favourite ) - only Alison Oliver is Irish playing Irish. ‘We wanted to reflect the changing texture of Irish society, but also it’s just really hard to find the right actor. People always think it can’t be that hard, but look at Hollywood, with all the choice they have, they’re always casting British actors to play Americans.’ As with Normal People , the Lir has provided actors for smaller roles, as well as the lead. ‘Our casting director, Louise Kiely, didn’t prioritise the Lir or anything. It just happens that there are really great people coming out of it. It seems like the Lir took all the lessons from drama schools round the world and distilled them into this really intelligently designed course, where there aren’t too many students and there’s huge sensitivity and understanding of what makes a performance compelling. There are four leads but Frances is the main character – it’s her story – and Alison Oliver is exceptional. Like Paul Mescal, she is straight out of drama school and able to carry a major series.’ Is she ready for the tsunami of fame which has hit Paul Mescal? (Even the Argos chain he wore as Connell has its own Instagram page) ‘Alison, like Paul, is very grounded and has a great family, but I don’t think anything can prepare you for that. I remember last summer, when things had opened up a bit, Ed [Guiney] and I were in Kerry with our families, in this tiny village, and Paul joined us for a pizza. While we were eating, everyone played it very cool but afterwards all the waiters came over and wanted a selfie with Paul, and when we stepped outside…the place was jammed! It seemed like everyone from the neighbouring townlands had got word. There were cars pulling over, people streaming out of houses asking for selfies. We wanted an ice-cream and it took us half an hour to walk to the filling station and back. My daughter, who is ten and fascinated by all things acting and fame, was really indignant on my behalf. She was saying “Dad, it’s not fair, you directed it and no-one wants to take your photo”. I was trying to tell her, “No, it’s brilliant – I’m the lucky one here”!’ Sally Rooney’s new book is out on 7 September
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