Are you ready to get close-ups? Alison Oliver couldn’t believe her luck when she was cast in Hulu’s Conversations with Friends — having just graduated from college shortly before getting her big break.
After landing the role of Frances in the adaptation, the 23-year-old native of Ireland received a crash course on TV acting. Sally Rooney’s debut novel by the same name. Conversations with Friends The streaming service will premiere the film on Sunday, May 15th.
“I cannot believe that happened. It was just the most surreal experience,” Oliver told The Irish TimesInterview published on Saturday, May 7th. “Prior to getting the part, I was already a massive Sally Rooney fan. I had read the book before I auditioned.”
She added: “And so I guess I already had my own connection to it. When the audition came around I thought, ‘Oh, my God!’ I guess in those situations, all you can do is do your best and hope for the best.”
Rooney, 31, was previously a star on the small screen when she published her 2018 novel. Normal PeopleThe show was made into a limited series on BBC Three in the U.K. later on Hulu. The show was nominated to four Emmys, and helped launch the careers for its stars. Paul MescalAnd Daisy Edgar-JonesOliver has become close to both of them in recent years.
Oliver, who stars alongside Joe Alwyn, Jemima KeckeAnd Sasha LaneIn Conversations with Friends, may be new to Hollywood, but her “little tribe” in London is filled with stars.
“I knew Paul because he was three years above me in college, so when I found out that I was going to do this, he reached out a couple of times and has been really, really nice,” Oliver told the Belfast TimesThis month, earlier. “I know Daisy a little bit too. It’s like we’re looking out for each other a little bit.”
Conversations with FriendsFollows Frances Oliver (ex-girlfriend) and Bobbi Lane (girlfriend), after they meet Melissa Kirke (student). While Bobbi instantly starts flirting with Melissa, Frances finds herself drawn to Melissa’s husband, Nick (Alwyn), with whom she begins an affair.
“I was in college at the time, and I’m not from Dublin, but there were similarities in terms of things about Frances’ life that I really resonated with,” Oliver told ElleApril was her connection to the story. “She’s such a multifaceted character; she can be really, really awkward and embarrassed and nervous, and then she can be ballsy and brave and a bit reckless. I tried to have fun with all those elements of her, and I was just lucky that maybe they saw I was trying to do that.”
She added: “It is definitely a really complicated story. There are many things people can learn from it. It’s a coming-of-age story. It’s also a story about an affair. It’s also a story about female friendship. I found that — whether it’s one person, two people, three people — love is always going to be complicated. And there’s always going to be sacrifices made.”
Scroll down for more information about Oliver. Conversations with FriendsPremieres Sunday May 15th, on Hulu