Cheryl Strayedknows what it’s like to have stories from her life play out on screen.
And through her advice column, she’s able to move toward healing.
EW spoke with Strayed and Tigelaar about bringing this story to the small screen.
Liz Tigelaar and Cheryl Strayed.Frank Micelotta/Hulu
Check out the conversation below.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did this come together?
Reese called me up one day and she said, “I have the perfect showrunner.”
Kathryn Hahn in ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’.Jessica Brooks/Hulu
That’s where our friendship and collaboration began.
LIZ TIGELAAR:I had been so moved by Cheryl’s writing.
I had readTiny Beautiful Thingsand I started just obsessively listening to her Dear Sugar podcast.
Merritt Wever and Kathryn Hahn in ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’.Jessica Brooks/Hulu
So Cheryl’s voice was in my head.
But Cheryl is everything you would hope and then a million times more.
The show has been a gift, but just Cheryl herself has been such a gift in my life.
STRAYED:I feel the same way about Liz.
It was amazing to see the way that she started to conceive the show and this character of Claire/Sugar.
And so we structured this “complicated woman” who is at this crossroads in her life.
And we knew that this character would be a lot like me, but also very fictional.
I did want to touch on that.
InWild, Reese played you, but in this, Kathryn isn’t playing you.
Why did you make that decision?
It would be a different kind of endeavor and I think a less interesting one.
So we’re the same, and then our paths diverged.
TIGELAAR:We also thought of it as waving to your sister life from shore.
That’s the spirit of this.
It also gave her a particularly relatable journey.
Have I become who I wanted to become?"
STRAYED:On that level, we were interested in telling a story about a woman in middle age.
My kids were little.
How did casting Kathryn Hahn come about?
But we didn’t write this for Kathryn.
But she was this kind of north star dream person.
It speaks to her absolute accomplishment and talent as an actress.
People see themselves in her.
What a gift that she said yes.
You also have Sarah Pidgeon playing a young Claire, andMerritt Weveras Claire’s mom.
STRAYED:Yeah, we felt so lucky.
I mean, incredibly close to, in many cases, exactly what happened as I remember it.
And the stakes are always incredibly high when that happens.
I feel like it’s my own personal individualized form of therapy called reenactments.
I’m going to open an institute of reenactments.
And then we’ll hire actors to play them out.
And then they would come and they’d sniff our hair and put their muzzles on our faces."
We didn’t have electricity.
[Laughs]
TIGELAAR:I love hearing the details of Cheryl’s life.
They’re so unique and singular, and there’s so many stories.
I’ve never met anybody with more of an ability to remember the details.
So there was so much, there still is so much.
You could make eight seasons ofTiny Beautiful Thingsand tell every story of Cheryl.
TIGELAAR:I would do this show for the rest of my life.
Some things are jobs and some things are experiences.
This has been an experience.
This has been an incredibly moving, wonderful, enriching experience.
So yeah, as long as Hulu will have us, we’ll be here.
STRAYED:Sign us up.
There are a lot of things inTiny Beautiful Things.
But I think the intention is never to imply that any story is wrapped up in a bow.
So however that looks, we’re here, we’re available.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Tiny Beautiful Thingspremieres Friday, April 7, on Hulu.
