A New Series From the Creator of “Normal People” is in the Works

Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal in
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal in "Normal People"

Last summer we fell in love with Connell and Marianne (Paul Mascal and Daisy Edgar Jones) in the heartbreakingly beautiful miniseries Normal People. After the show’s wild success and several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, Sally Rooney’s debut novel Conversations with Friends will also get its own small-screen adaptation.

Many of the creative team members who worked on Normal People are involved in this project too, including director Lenny Abrahamson and writer Alice Birch. Conversations with Friends follow the story of Frances and Bobbi, two Dublin-based college students, as they become romantically intertwined with Nick and Melissa, an older, sophisticated married couple in their 30s. Rooney herself described the book as a “coming of age story”, but also noted the significance of its setting around the 2008 economic crash in Dublin, and indeed class dynamics are a major theme in the novel.

Frances will be played by newcomer Alison Cameron, and Sasha Lane (who you may recognize from American Honey) will play Bobbi. Joe Alwyn (The Favorite) stars as Nick and Jemima Kirke (Girls) plays Melissa. The show will comprise 12 half-hour episodes and is set to be released on Hulu in 2022.