When it comes to adapting a novel to the screen, Conversations with Friends director and writer Lenny Abrahamson says, “I have to be fascinated by the characters. You can have an amazing and exciting story that’s a real pleasure to read but unless I really want to spend time with the characters it’s less interesting for me.”
The 12-episode limited series by the BBC and Hulu is based on the novel of the same name written by Irish author Sally Rooney. It’s a coming-of-age story ripe with entanglements and complicated relationships involving two best friends and former lovers Francis (Alison Oliver) Bobbi (Sasha Lane) and a mysterious married couple (Jemima Kirke and Joe Alwyn).
“Different people are drawn to different things but I am drawn to where there is a strong central story,” Abrahamson tells Final Draft. “You can sort of jump into a book like a warm bath. You can luxuriate yourself with the language and take your time with it. But with film and TV there's a singular timeline and something has to pull you to the next moment and the next moment. So I am always looking for some sort of central movement – what happens to the key characters? And that movement needs to be simple and powerful to keep the story moving forward.”
The Irish director admits that adapting the novel to screen and mapping out the series is the “hardest thing to do.”
“Getting that right is the key. If you don’t break it up well then you can’t make an episode well. It’s about making sure there’s a movement in a really simple way. There’s forward motion in each episode – that the character development is satisfyingly mapped out over the episodes, and each episode has an overall shape... It can take a while.”
Abrahamson says he’s someone who likes to constantly revise. So when the pandemic delayed the shoot by six months, he and his team used that time as an opportunity to work out the script even more. “You never know how these things will go but ultimately that worked out in the end,” he says.
When shooting finally started, Abrahamson says “rewriting continues all the way through. So after we cast, I always like to bring the cast to the writers and say, here are some of these really interesting things that can come out of these people, and here are things that you’d want to emphasize a little more in the script.”
Abrahamson will continue to find new things in rehearsal to use and adjust the script. “Even on the day of shooting, if something doesn’t work or another idea comes up on the day, we will rewrite. I know there’s pressure to lock the script for good reason but I am a big believer in revisions and revision until you’re satisfied with the best version.”
In terms of what he thought was crucial in staying true to the source material, Abrahamson says the relationships of the characters were key.
“These were really beautiful high moments in the novel that we wanted to hold onto. For example, the first party where Nick and Francis met and kissed – that’s an iconic moment.” While the writing staff did invent some things, Abrahamson says the writers kept returning to the book to find ways to solve problems or to bring new material in.
“When I talk to people about adaptation there’s no method. You just have to sort of jump right in. I think the only thing you can do is to be determined to do justice to the novel and find something in the screen medium to capture the essence of it, and not stop until it’s right. To continue to interrogate what you’re doing and that you’re making it the best you can.”
Conversations with Friends is available now on Hulu.