Conversations with Lenny Lenny Abrahamson tells Bridget Hourican about directing Conversations with Friends , his second adaptation of a Sally Rooney novel W e were supposed to start filming after Christmas but COVID kept pushing it back. But when we greenlighted to begin shooting in Trinity, we really lucked out. We got amazing weather, and because the college was still closed, we brought in all our own background and had much more control than with Normal People , which was shot pre-pandemic. To take ownership of a space like Trinity, normally that wouldn’t be possible, even on a massive budget – it was amazing.’ Like Normal People , Conversations with Friends is a coming-of-age story centred on Trinity students, produced by Ed Guiney, co-written by Alice Birch, and starring Lir graduate, Alison Oliver. With so many points in common, the expectation and pressure to replicate the previous success must be huge - how does he free himself from it? ‘I think you accept from the beginning that there’s no point in chasing Normal People . It’s not series 2, although, yes, we’re in similar territory. I see it more like Fargo – where you have completely different stories each time but there’s a shared feeling and aesthetic.’ To take ownership of a space like Trinity, normally that wouldn’t be possible – it was amazing ©Molly Keane
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