Feb. 17 (UPI) — Joe Alwyn, Jemima Kirke, newcomer Alison Oliver and Sasha Lane have been cast in BBC Three and Hulu’s upcoming television adaptation of Sally Rooney’s award-winning novel, Conversations With Friends.
Production company Element Pictures is producing the 12-part series, following its hit adaptation of Rooney’s novel Normal People.
The series will follow Oliver as Frances, a 21-year-old college student as she navigates a series of relationships that make her confront her vulnerabilities.
Frances is still friends with her ex-girlfriend Bobbi (Lane) with the duo performing spoken word poetry together. They begin spending time with older writer Melissa (Kirke) and her husband Nick (Alwyn), a reserved actor. Frances and Nick begin a secret affair that tests the bond between Frances and Bobbi.
Lenny Abrahamson (Room, Normal People) is executive producing and directing with Alice Birch, Mark O’Halloran, Meadhbh McHugh and Susan Soon He Stanton writing. Abrahamson will also be sharing directing duties with Leanne Welham (His Dark Materials).
Production will take place in Dublin and Belfast, Ireland, along with other international locations. Conversations With Friends will premiere in 2022 on Hulu in the United States and on BBC Three and BBC One in the United Kingdom.
“I feel so excited to be collaborating with four such superb actors to bring Sally’s brilliant novel to the screen. Over the last few months it has been a privilege to work alongside Element Pictures and our extraordinary team of writers to get the scripts to a point where we all feel so excited to start shooting,” Abrahamson said in a statement.
“I’ll be joined by a world class crew (many of whom worked on Normal People) and supporting cast and I’m particularly happy to have Leanne Welham come on board. I’ve been an admirer of her work for a long time and I have no doubt she will bring great skill and subtlety to the episodes she directs,” he continued.