‘REESE & NICOLE ARE COMPLETELY CHARMING!’
Liane, what was the inspiration behind Nine Perfect Strangers? I had been joking for a long time about setting my next book on a tropical island, and needing to do a lot of research to get it right. After a while, I thought, “Actually why not do that?” But then somehow – and I can’t actually remember how it happened – but my island resort turned into a health resort. Are the characters based on anybody in real life? One of the characters is a novelist so I probably put a lot of myself into her – we share a love of bellinis – but she’s still not me! All the other characters are completely fictional. The story will be played out on screen – do you see it in TV or movie form? We don’t know yet. I can be involved as little or as much as I’d like, which is wonderful. Who is on your wishlist to play the main characters, in particular, Masha? At this stage the thought is that Nicole Kidman will play the role of Masha. Have you been surprised by the success of Big Little Lies? It was a wonderful surprise but really it shouldn’t have been unexpected, with that amazing cast and all the talented people working on it. Has season two gone in the direction you imagined? I wrote a 50,000 word novella on which season two is based. I did change some of my characters’ backstories from the original book. What was it like meeting Nicole and Reese [Witherspoon]? They were both lovely, warm and completely charming. Do you enjoy the glitz and glamour of Hollywood? The couple of events I have attended were great fun but I’m still suffering post-traumatic stress from having to find the right dress to wear to the Emmys so I wouldn’t want to do it too often!