Irish author Sally Rooney has published two novels to date, with both of them—2014's Conversations With Friends, and last year’s Normal People—earning strong reviews for her deft handling of complicated interpersonal topics like class, sex, and pain. Now the latter project will attempt to bring that same level of nuance to the streaming screen, with Hulu announcing that it’s developing an adaptation of Normal People for itself.
The series—which, like the book, follows the lives of two teenagers, Connell and Marianne, as they move into and out of each other’s orbits while making the transition from high school into college—is being adapted by Rooney herself, plus writers Alice Birch and Mark O’Rowe. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal will star in the central roles while Lenny Abrahamson (Room) and Hettie McDonald are set to direct the show’s 12 episodes.
We were suitably impressed by Normal People when we reviewed the novel earlier this year; it’ll be interesting to see whether Hulu can maintain its ambitious structure—and clear-eyed refusal to make either of its protagonists the “good guy” or “bad guy” at any point in their messy relationship—when it makes its way to the screen.