EXCLUSIVE! Author Emily Henry Gives Us a Glimpse of the New People We Meet on Vacation Movie—And What We’ll Fall in Love with Next
Emily Henry wasn’t actually on vacation when it happened, but still. During a recent layover in the bustling Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the author was taken aback to spot someone poring over her 2021 bestselling novel, People We Meet on Vacation. “It was a really fun and meta feeling,” she says. And yet she resisted the urge to make the approach: “I wanted them to have the reading experience that they want and not be like, ‘Hey, what do you think?'” (The book’s devoted 2 million readers have already told her, anyway.)
And now, People We Meet on Vacation has been adapted into a fun and frothy Netflix film, which you can stream starting Jan. 9. The story follows Poppy (Emily Bader, My Lady Jane) and Alex (Tom Blyth, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes), two platonic, longtime pals with contrasting personalities—she’s an extrovert; he’s a bookworm—who take an annual trip together. Two years after a falling-out, the pair reunite in Barcelona to salvage their friendship … and (soft spoiler!) end up acting on their long-simmering romantic feelings.
“They just have it for each other,” Henry explains. “They could have stayed friends, but that wouldn’t be true to what they actually want and it wouldn’t have been fair to anyone in their circles.”
Though People We Meet on Vacation is the first of Henry’s novels to get the screen treatment, it surely won’t be the last. A BookTok queen who’s cracked the code on how to write a warm and contemporary rom-com for Gen Z and Millennials alike, Henry still can’t believe that a whopping five of her works have been optioned for films. They’re currently in various stages of development, with Jennifer Lopez’s production company attached to her 2023 book, Happy Place. “I’ll be delighted to see any of them get made,” she says.
But for all her successes and travels—she’s calling in from a People We Meet on Vacation press junket in New Orleans—Henry admits that she’s happiest at home in Cincinnati, reading and writing. Below, she gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the brand-new film, writer life and her upcoming projects, and let’s just say you’re about to fall in love with her even more.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Get Reader’s Digest’s Read Up newsletter for more celebrity interviews, humor, travel, tech and fun facts all week long.
Reader’s Digest: Why do you think People We Meet on Vacation is so popular among your fans and was the first to be adapted?
Emily Henry: There was a really devoted readership. I think some of that is the vacation element. A lot of people don’t really have the chance to read that much during the year—and if they read a book, it’s when they’re in an airport and going on vacation. They just want to just get swept away in the writing, the title, the cover, the concept. An airport book to me is a compliment, not a pejorative. So I think that appeal gave the book a lot of momentum, which obviously helped move a film along. But we still had to roll that stone up the hill!
Reader’s Digest: How involved were you in the casting of Emily and Tom?
Emily Henry: It wasn’t up to me—I am just one voice of many. But I trusted [director] Brett [Haley] when he told me that these two people were great. Then he sent me a recording of their chemistry read on Zoom. They were in different countries, different time zones, and did a couple of scenes together. But even just seeing them on that Zoom screen was enough to really sell me. I thought they had such incredible chemistry and incredible comedic timing and delivery. I was all-in as soon as I saw the way that they acted together.
Reader’s Digest: There are a few changes from the book, including the detail that Alex and Poppy reunite in Barcelona and not Palm Springs. Did you want to tweak certain details after publication?
Emily Henry: I didn’t feel that way. This was just more of a fun opportunity, not necessarily me trying to rewrite the book. I told the readers to think of this like Batman, in that this is just one person’s interpretation of a story you already know well. So there are things that weren’t in the book that may feel like alternate realities, but these are surface-level changes made to truncate the story. A lot of the changes were practical.
Reader’s Digest: Then why Barcelona?
Emily Henry: I had never been there! But Barcelona was good because we knew there were a lot of beautiful, old-stone homes that could double for Tuscany as well. The joke was that we had to make a James Bond movie with a rom-com budget. We also shot in New Orleans, which was a nonnegotiable.
Reader’s Digest: Do you have any updates on which of your books we’ll see on the screen next?
Emily Henry: My suspicion is we probably will do [2020’s] Beach Read next. And obviously, there’s the chance that nothing else will coalesce and actually happen. It takes so many people and so many moving parts to fit together, but we’re trying really hard on all of them. But we’re all eager to get this made well and soon, and Yulin Kwang is directing that. She wrote the original script for this movie.
Reader’s Digest: And are you working on a book now?
Emily Henry: I am about to start working on a book. I took a year off writing books, which was supposed to be my rest and recharge year. But instead, I wrote a bunch of screenplays and some essays and short stories. It was really fun to try some new things and to experiment a little bit more. Now I am so eager and ready to settle down and get back into the joy of writing a book. I’m actually dying to get back to it.
Reader’s Digest: Can you divulge any plot details?
Emily Henry: There’s nothing I can talk about because it exists only in my brain. And I can’t promise that when I start writing it, it doesn’t become something entirely different. I’m superstitious like that.
Reader’s Digest: But it’s going to be a romance, right?
Emily Henry: OK, yes. I’m going to do another romance. I know some people thought Great Big Beautiful Life [from 2025] was a departure, but it was more of an expansion. I do think my hope and goal right now is just to write another really classic rom-com. Like, what I am feeling excited about is getting back into the center of that genre for a beat and then trying another little expansion.
Reader’s Digest: Are you like Poppy in that you’re a writer with wanderlust?
Emily Henry: I think I’m really split between both Poppy and Alex. I mean, I get wanderlust—but for me it’s like every three months I get an itch and want to go see something new and eat new food and all of that. But I’m also such a homebody, so when I’m home, I am well. I’m a bookish person by nature. I want to be home reading, writing, watching movies and watching TV with my dog. I’m a lot lazier than Poppy. I enjoy my time on the couch.
Reader’s Digest: That raises the obvious question: What’s your favorite vacation spot?
Emily Henry: You know what? Palm Springs really is my favorite. I love it there. I love the architecture. I love the clothes. I love the weather. I do a writers’ retreat there, usually in the winter, with [fellow authors] Julia Whelan and Jasmine Guillory and Taylor Jenkins Reid. We’re all so productive because all there is to do is be in the pool writing. And we even set up what we call a “pool office,” where we drag the umbrella around the pool. As the sun moves, we have our laptops out of the pool, but our bodies are in the pool. This is the life of a working vacation.
Reader’s Digest: So what you’re saying is that you’re living the author’s dream.
Emily Henry: I know, I know. I’m jealous of myself!
Watch People We Meet on Vacation on Netflix, starting on Jan. 9.
Why trust us
At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- Deadline: “Netflix Options Novel ‘Happy Place’ For Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican; Series in the Works – The Dish”
- Deadline: “20th Century Adapting Emily Henry’s ‘Beach Read’ with Yulin Kuang Set to Direct”
The post EXCLUSIVE! Author Emily Henry Gives Us a Glimpse of the New <i>People We Meet on Vacation</i> Movie—And What We’ll Fall in Love with Next appeared first on Reader's Digest.
from Reader's Digest https://ift.tt/pio6rVq
Comments
Post a Comment