Normal People (TV series)
A secret relationship between two students across school and university.
Normal People is a romantic drama limited series adapted from Sally Rooney's 2018 novel. It centers on Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron, classmates at secondary school who later attend the same university. The show debuted on BBC Three in April 2020 to strong reviews, and Paul Mescal earned a Primetime Emmy nomination and a BAFTA Award for his lead performance.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Romance
- Based on
- Normal People, Sally Rooney
- Creator
- Catherine Magee
- Starring
- Daisy Edgar-Jones
- Paul Mescal
- Sarah Greene
- Writer
- Sally Rooney
- Alice Birch
- Mark O'Rowe
- Director
- Lenny Abrahamson; Hettie Macdonald
- Composer
- Stephen Rennicks
- Country
- Ireland
- United Kingdom
- United States
Facts from the source article.
Cast
Daisy Edgar-Jones plays Marianne Sheridan, a wealthy and blunt young woman who finds it hard to fit in socially. During her final year of secondary school, she starts a hidden relationship with Connell. Paul Mescal is Connell Waldron, a well-liked, top-performing student and athlete who deals with his own anxiety, and he also begins a secret romance with Marianne that same year. Sarah Greene takes the role of Lorraine Waldron, Connell’s mother who raises him alone and works as a cleaner for the Sheridan family; she is very close with both her son and Marianne. Aislín McGuckin appears as Denise Sheridan, the single mother of Marianne and Alan, who endured domestic violence from their father but does not stop Alan from abusing Marianne. Éanna Hardwicke plays Rob Hegarty, a good friend of Connell’s from school. Frank Blake is Alan Sheridan, Marianne’s brother who mistreats her. Eliot Salt portrays Joanna, a college friend close to Marianne. India Mullen plays Peggy, a rich member of Marianne’s college social group. Desmond Eastwood appears as Niall, Connell’s university roommate who pushes for Connell and Marianne to get together. Sebastian de Souza is Gareth, a blunt college classmate of Connell’s and an ex-boyfriend of Marianne. Fionn O’Shea plays Jamie, part of Marianne’s Trinity College circle who later dates her. Leah McNamara appears as Rachel Moran, a former girlfriend of Connell’s and part of his school group. Seán Doyle plays Eric, one of Connell’s school friends. Niamh Lynch is Karen, a kind school acquaintance of Marianne’s. Kwaku Fortune appears as Philip, a college friend of Marianne’s. Clinton Liberty plays Kiernan. Aoife Hinds portrays Helen Brophy, Connell’s girlfriend during college. Lancelot Ncube plays Lukas, Marianne’s abusive boyfriend while she is in Sweden. Noma Dumezweni appears as Gillian, the therapist Connell sees.
Production
In May 2019, BBC Three and Hulu confirmed they would turn Rooney’s book into a limited series debuting in 2020, with Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones playing Connell and Marianne. The rest of the cast, including Aislín McGuckin and Sarah Greene, was filled in shortly after. Rooney worked on the adaptation alongside Alice Birch and Mark O’Rowe. Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald were named directors, and Element Pictures served as the main production company. Principal photography started on location in County Sligo and Dublin in May 2019. The fictional town of Carricklea was mostly represented by Tubbercurry, while Streedagh Point on the Wild Atlantic Way stood in for beach scenes, Knockmore House in Enniskerry for the Sheridans’ home, and a terraced house in Shankill for the Waldrons’ residence. Hartstown Community School in Clonsilla was used for secondary school scenes, with real students appearing as extras. Trinity College Dublin students also served as extras during university filming. Marianne’s Dublin flat was shot on Wellington Road in Ballsbridge. Though the novel places scenes in Trieste, filming happened in central Italy, mainly around Sant’Oreste, Stimigliano, and the villa Il Casale on Tenuta di Verzano in Lazio. Luleå scenes were shot in February 2020 to guarantee snow and a frozen Baltic Sea for a shot of Marianne walking. The series’ soundtrack includes “Warped Windows” by Anna Mieke at the end of episode 1; “Did It To Myself” by Orla Gartland opening episode 2, which closes with “Angeles” by Elliott Smith; “Only You” by Yazoo ending episode 3; “Undertow” by Lisa Hannigan closing episode 4; “Make You Feel My Love” covered by Ane Brun ending episode 5; “Too Much” by Carly Rae Jepsen opening episode 6; “Metrona” by The Sei ending episode 7; “Love Will Tear Us Apart” covered by Nerina Pallot closing episode 8; “Rare” by Selena Gomez opening episode 9, which ends with “Scene Suspended” by Jon Hopkins; “Everything I Am Is Yours” by Villagers ending episode 10; “Strange Weather” by Anna Calvi featuring David Byrne closing episode 11; and episode 12 starts with “The Subterranean Heart” by Mount Alaska and ends with “Sometimes” by Goldmund. Music from the Irish hip hop duo Tebi Rex’s debut album The Young Will Eat The Old also appears.
Release
The first promotional images for the show were released on November 1, 2019. On January 17, 2020, both BBC Three and Hulu put out their own teasers, with full official trailers arriving on March 31. The complete 12-episode season dropped as a BBC Three box set on BBC iPlayer on April 26, and then aired on BBC One the following day. It landed on Stan in Australia on April 27, began broadcasting on RTÉ One in Ireland on April 28, and premiered in the United States on Hulu on April 29. The series has been picked up by more than 20 broadcasters globally. In June 2020, director Abrahamson reunited Edgar-Jones and Mescal for a one-off Comic Relief spoof, where their characters confess to a priest played by Andrew Scott.
Reception
The series was widely praised. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 91% rating with an average score of 8.2/10 based on 91 reviews, with the critical consensus stating it is 'Anchored by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal's vulnerable performances, Normal People is at once intimate and illuminating, beautifully translating the nuances of its source material.' On Metacritic, the series has a score of 82 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating 'universal acclaim'. Caroline Framke of Variety wrote that with 'its trifecta of elegant writing, directing, and acting, Normal People is just as bleak and uncompromising as Rooney's novel.' NPR's Linda Holmes praised the main cast's performances and chemistry, noting that Mescal and Edgar-Jones 'have the vulnerability it takes to maintain confidence.' In a negative review, Jessa Crispin of The Guardian called the series 'a gutless soap opera for millennials' and criticized its unrealistic depiction of university freshmen and lack of depth. Matt Fagerholm of RogerEbert.com compared Normal People to 'being stuck on a bad date that refuses to end,' criticizing its writing, Mescal's casting, and its characters.
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