I always knew it was gonna be about a screenwriter and a novelist who had known each other in high school, and the archetypes of who they were in high school. I didn’t want to do any research because I was busy at the time, so it was just going to be about adaptation.
But looking back, I was spending so much time reading Emily [Henry]’s books and thinking about what resonated with me in them, and I was like, What shared wounds do Emily and I have? The things that I resonate with in her work are the ways grief and friendship, and all of these things that are not necessarily the warm, happy parts. So I kind of wanted to look at what kind of shared wound I could give this novelist and the screenwriter, where they’re both coming at the same hurt from different angles.
New Jersey is a huge character in the book. Tell me more about that—you grew up there, right?
Partially, I did, yes. I was born in China, when I was three we moved to Wichita, Kansas, and when I was eight we moved to New Jersey, and then we kind of hopped around different suburbs of New Jersey, I think because my parents were trying to send me to the best public school for each grade. So I moved a lot. I feel like people should romanticize New Jersey a little bit more.
What about New Jersey felt right as a setting for this novel?
I knew I wanted it to be like an East Coast, West Coast kind of culture clash. I mostly identify as being originally from the East Coast, and I think that when I first came out to LA, there was a kind of a culture shock for me. I remember going to an interview in a full J.Crew suit that I had spent money on, because it was an important interview for me, but it was so not the vibe! And so I wanted to use that geography to separate them a little bit more.
What do you think the two characters see in each other?
Grant compels Helen because he is what she is not capable of. He is able to move easily in the world. I always look at people that are just wildly charismatic golden retrievers. I mean, Emily Henry would be a great example, right? I look at how easy it is to fall in love with Emily Henry, and I’m like, Oh, my God, what is that? So I feel like the compelling part of Grant is how much he has that. But then also, at his core, he’s kind of a sad boy, and I always feel like whenever people have a second layer to them, and they reveal that vulnerability to you, that’s always very deeply compelling. And I think he’s just very good at his job, and competence is always sexy, right? For Grant, Helen is somebody who knows what she wants, and is very good at getting it. And so it’s very flattering when somebody like that wants you.