On this week’s Screen After Reading podcast, we go behind the scenes of the Hulu series.
“There are natural similarities.
It’s still Sally’s writing.
Enda Bowe/Hulu; Penguin Random House
It’s a focus on younger people in Dublin and Ireland.
There’s a natural similarity, which we didn’t want to artificially interrupt.”
“But then there are very big differences also,” he continues.
“Conversations With Friendsis, in a way, a more complex book in terms of shape.
You’ve got four central characters, albeit Frances is at the very middle.
We were led by that and the need to respect that complexity.
Part of differentiatingConversationscame via the shooting format; Abrahamson shot the series on film instead of digital.
“The way we shot digitally onNormal Peoplewas a particularly lovely way,” he explains.
Radically changing the format was one way of resetting ourselves for this new creative enterprise.”
Rooney’s writing offers up sex scenes that are purposefully devoid of eroticism.
“Sally’s sex scenes are so good.
They’re so precise,” says writer Meadhbh McHugh.
It’s about being very attuned to, what’s the mood?
What’s the temperature?
Where are they at right now with each other?
Every sex scene hopefully is different from each other in a certain way.
It’s a different context.
Are they on holiday in Croatia and sneaking around?
Or is it when they’ve come back together?
Or at what point are they at with the story?
It’s very intimate, but this is very much between these two people.
It’s not designed to be titillating."
“It’s as important as the dinner table scene.
So, why shouldn’t it get as much choreography and as much blocking?”
posits Jemima Kirke, who portrays Nick’s wife, Melissa.
And your moves don’t matter.
We’re talking about the character."
“It’s important to know your character’s intimacy,” says Oliver.
“How is your character intimate?
And separating that from yourself.
That’s all part of the storytelling too.”
“Lenny always spoke about the intimacy scenes like extensions of conversations,” adds Alwyn.
It’s also a big part of the way that those two characters are able to communicate.
They’re not good at speaking to each other outside of that, particularly.
The moments when they’re able to find sweetness and joy is in intimate moments."
Listen to the latest episode ofScreen After Readingbelow for more from the team behindConversations With Friends.
