Hulu returns on May 15 with another Sally Rooney adaptation, turning her debut novel Conversations With Friends into a 12-episode miniseries only a few short years after Normal People, which received rave reviews and felt like a breath of fresh air at the start of the pandemic. The new show follows a sweet and shy college student named Frances (newcomer Alison Oliver) and her much more outspoken best friend Bobbi (Sasha Lane, Loki). Having previously dated themselves, they now find themselves tangled in a confusing friendship with a married couple.
The couple are successful essayist Melissa (Jemima Kirke, Sex Education) and somewhat less successful actor Nick (Joe Alwyn, The Last Letter from Your Lover), who befriend the girls in the midst of their own marital troubles. Frances and Nick soon have intense feelings for each other that lead to an affair, which has consequences for all four members of the quartet. Rooney's novel and the series alike engage in themes of honesty in relationships and the revolving door nature of love.
Kirke and Lane spoke to Screen Rant about the different dynamics at play in Conversations With Friends and how their characters feel about Frances and Nick respectively.
Screen Rant: The relationship between Bobbi and Frances is so volatile and full of emotion. How does Bobbi feel about Frances, and what does she mean to her?
Sasha Lane: Ultimately, I think they have a very deep connection, because it was her first friend when she moved to Ireland. It's someone that she fell in love with romantically, as well as just as a person. I think they're very intimate with each other in multiple ways.
She just really feels for Frances. There's a lot of things about Frances that she admires, that frustrate her, that she doesn't speak on - it doesn't matter. That's her person, I think. With that, just because that's your person doesn't mean it's smooth sailing.
Melissa is clear that she loves Nick, but their relationship is not what everyone would, at first glance, think is an ideal one. Can you talk about Melissa's perspective on marriage and relationships?
Jemima Kirke: Yeah, I think when we meet them, they are in somewhat of a limbo [situation]. She's just had an affair not that long ago, and this is the fallout from that. They are living together, but she's in the doghouse, as it were. She's giving him his time and space to come back to her.
And so, I think her perspective on love and marriage and all of that is... I don't really know exactly what her perspective is. I think for everyone, it's always evolving. But I think that she has certain needs, which she is constantly making sacrifices around so that she can sustain the relationship. And I think one of those needs is that she needs some sort of worship - she needs to be admired, and she needs the partner to be somewhat of a supporting act.
That's not bad; I think some people are really up for that, and some people like that in a partner, to have someone who speaks for them or upstages them a bit. If the partner likes to sort of recede to the background, and that is more of what Nick is. I don't think he resents that about her; I think it's one of the things he loves about her. But I think it's also something that she feels insecure about when Frances comes into the picture, because she's the opposite.
Conversations With Friends Synopsis
Conversations with Friends follows Frances, a 21 year old college student, as she navigates a series of relationships that force her to confront her own vulnerabilities for the first time. Frances is observant, cerebral and sharp. Her ex-girlfriend, now best friend, Bobbi is self-assured, outspoken and compelling. Though they broke up three years ago, Frances and Bobbi are virtually inseparable and perform spoken word poetry together in Dublin. It’s at one of their shows that they meet Melissa, an older writer, who is fascinated by the pair.
Bobbi and Frances start to spend time with Melissa and her husband, Nick, a handsome but reserved actor. While Melissa and Bobbi flirt with each other openly, Nick and Frances embark on an intense secret affair that is surprising to them both. Soon the affair begins to test the bond between Frances and Bobbi, forcing Frances to reconsider her sense of self, and the friendship she holds so dear.
Check out our interview with Conversations With Friends stars Alison Oliver & Joe Alwyn as well.
All 12 episodes of Conversations With Friends will drop May 15 on Hulu.