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Filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson: 'Why I had to direct Normal People'

As soon as Lenny Abrahamson read Sally Rooney's second novel he knew he wanted to direct it for television

May 2, 2020 19:23
Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-ones in Normal People

ByKeren David, Keren David

2 min read

You never know when you spend a long time on something, and everyone puts in a massive effort whether it’ll come out and be seen by one man and his dog,” says film-maker Lenny Abrahamson on a crackly line from his home in Dublin. “So it’s nice when it all comes off.”

We’re talking the day after the BBC screened the first episode of Normal People, which he directed, the adaptation of Sally Rooney’s acclaimed second novel. To call the response “nice” is an understatement, the show was met with universal praise from critics. “A small screen triumph, said The Guardian. The Telegraph called it “A rare treat” .

What’s more, the first episode felt like a TV event, in a way that had become unusual until lockdown. The narrative is about the intimate relationship between two young people Marianne (played by Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal) through school and university, and Abrahamson thinks that the intimacy “tapped into people’s lives now, that sense of what is important.”