A first look at the forthcoming BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s debut novel, Conversations With Friends, has arrived, offering a preview of Alison Oliver as the lead character, Frances.
First announced in 2020, following the wild success of the TV adaptation of Rooney’s Normal People over lockdown, Conversations With Friends follows Frances, a 21-year-old college student, through a series of relationships.
Dazed cover star and The Miseducation of Cameron Post actor Sasha Lane is set to play Bobbi, the ex-girlfriend and now best friend of Frances. Girls’ Jemima Kirke, meanwhile, joins the cast as journalist Melissa, with Joe Alwyn playing her husband, Nick.
Normal People director Lenny Abrahamson will return at the helm of Conversations With Friends, with Leanne Welham also set to direct.
“Lenny’s deep affinity for Sally’s writing and talent for finding actors to bring her fictional creations to life played a huge part in bringing Normal People so successfully to screen,” says Director of BBC Drama Piers Wenger in a statement on the new show.
“In casting Alison, Sasha, Joe and Jemima, that same flair and instinct is in evidence and we cant wait to see how they will bring Frances, Bobbi, Nick, and Melissa to life.”
A firm date for the Conversations With Friends premiere is still TBC, but we do know that the show is set to air via the BBC and Hulu in 2022.
In the meantime, you can watch some brief clips in a teaser for the BBC’s 2022 shows below, and view Oliver’s Frances above.
