When Marian Keyes first visited the set of The Walsh Sisters, the upcoming RTE drama series based on her books, seeing the cast in action she says, was like watching her characters emerge straight off the page and into real life.
“They weren’t even being filmed at the time, but all five of them [the sisters] were talking together and they were just this ball of chat…it was like they’d walked out of my head, they looked exactly like how I imagined them,” she says.
The new six-part drama series, which will be on our screens this autumn, is based on characters from five of Keyes’ novels, including Rachel’s Holiday and Anybody Out There. Set in Dublin, it follows the lives of Anna, Rachel, Maggie, Claire and Helen as they navigate relationships, heartache, addiction and parenthood.
Louisa Harland (Derry Girls), Stephanie Preissner (Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope) and rising talent Caroline Menton (Oddity), are just some of the names headlining the cast.
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Although the casting of the five sisters was important to get right, it was the casting of Luke Costello, Rachel’s complicated love interest, which Keyes says was really crucial. “It was the big worry as far as everyone was concerned,” she says.
“I was getting literal letters, threatening letters, saying: ‘Who is playing Luke Costello’,” she laughs. In the end, the role was given to an actor from Dublin called Jay Duffy. He’s the son of former Boyzone member, Keith Duffy.
Of his casting, Keyes says: “It was the only bit of casting that I felt that I could kind of get down on my knees and plead about. So I mean, I did go to them and say: ‘don’t f**k this up’, because it just mattered to too many people.”
The highly anticipated Walsh Sisters isn’t the only TV adaptation in the works for Keyes. Her 2021 novel Grownups is currently being adapted for Netflix, with filming on the project due to begin later this year.
Screenwriter and producer Samantha Strauss, the woman behind Apple Cider Vinegar and Nine Perfect strangers, has been tasked with bringing the novel to life. Other than the fact that it is being filmed in Ireland, Keyes says she can’t share much else, especially not about the casting.
“I’ll get into too much trouble,” she adds.
You can listen back to this conversation with Marian Keyes, recorded live from Kildare Village in the player above, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was recorded as part of The Women’s Podcast Live Book Club summer reads event.
You can check out the full list of summer reading recommendations from the event here.
