It's probably fair to say that Normal People, the TV adaptation of the smash hit novel by acclaimed Irish author Sally Rooney, will forever be synonymous with lockdown one. In many ways it feels like only yesterday the internet was awash with memes about Connell's chain and unearthed clips of Paul Mescal's breakout role in a Denny sausages advert, and religious zealots were feverishly calling Joe Duffy to complain about the show's 'pornographic' sex scenes.
It was the series that spawned a thousand thinkpieces and made global stars out of its leading couple, with Mescal playing the aforementioned male protagonist Connell, and Daisy Edgar Jones as his on/off girlfriend Marianne. It also offered many of us something to look forward to on a weekly basis through what were some of the most uncertain of these uncertain times we continue to live through.
It should offer some comfort then to know that, as we find ourselves over a year into the pandemic and essentially in precisely the same place as we were last year, another lifeline can be seen in the distance as the second TV adaptation of a Sally Rooney novel has officially began filming in Northern Ireland this week.
Conversations With Friends, for those who don't know, is actually Rooney's first novel which centres around two couples in Dublin whose lives become intertwined through overlapping love triangles and friendships. Some might say the story does not offer the same emotional gut punches that Normal People relentlessly delivered but if you were a fan of the latter book or TV show, there will almost definitely be something in this story for you.
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One key difference from the first series is the decision not to cast unknown actors in the leading roles. Whilst Normal People propelled Mescal and Edgar Jones from relative obscurity to Emmy-nominated and Jimmy Choo-campaign-fronted heights, many of the faces playing the titular 'Friends' here are familiar faces
Although the character of Frances, one half of a complicated friendship the book focuses on, is played by the unknown Cork actress Alison Oliver, her tenacious best friend Bobbi will be played by the US actress Sasha Lane who many will recognise from the Chloe Grace Mortez-fronted conversion therapy drama The Miseducation of Cameron Post and the 2020 Amazon Prime remake of Utopia.
Fans of the book will know that Frances and Bobbi's lives are irreversibly changed when they encounter Nick and Melissa, an older couple on the Dublin literary scene who invite the girls into their home and lives (in more ways than one). Melissa will be played by Jemima Kirke, the British-American actress best known for playing Lena Dunham's troubled bohemian best friend in the HBO dramedy Girls.
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Melissa's husband Nick will be played by the English actor Joe Alwyn who is known for his roles in 2018 period dramas such as Mary, Queen of Scots and The Favourite, and perhaps better known for his most important role to date as boyfriend, and occasional cowriter, of Taylor Swift. Putting to one side the issue that a key component of the book's story is that Nick and Melissa are significantly older than Bobbi and Frances, and Alwyn is in fact less than five years older than Sasha Lane - this is an all-star cast that seems like the perfect recipe for another world-dominating TV show.
The cast began shooting scenes in Northern Ireland earlier this week as confirmed on the official Normal People Instagram. The show is said to land on screens on the BBC, Hulu and RTÉ next year - nice and all as it would be reminisce on watching Normal People, let's collectively cross our fingers that we're not watching Conversations With Friends in the midst of yet another national lockdown!
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Ireland