- Jemima Kirke said her "Conversations With Friends" role as Melissa felt like a "stretch" at times.
- Her marriage seemed written from a 22-year-old's perspective in the book, Kirke told The Telegraph.
- She called Sally Rooney's writing "beautiful" but said she "struggled" with parts of the story.
Jemima Kirke found her "Conversations With Friends" character, a glamorous writer named Melissa, to be a "stretch" at certain points during filming, the actor told The Telegraph on Friday.
In the forthcoming Hulu adaptation of Sally Rooney's debut novel, Melissa befriends two Trinity College students, Frances (Alison Oliver) and Bobbi (Sasha Lane), who become entangled in her marriage to Nick (Joe Alwyn).
Rooney was 26 years old when Faber and Faber published the book in 2017 to widespread critical acclaim.
"It's remarkable that someone of that age [Rooney] has so much discipline and focus, but as I was finally reading the book, I was thinking, 'This is marriage written from the perspective of a 22-year-old,'" Kirke, 36, told The Telegraph.
The actor continued: "I don't think that's good or bad. Her writing is beautiful but there were moments when I struggled to make something work."
When Kirke, an actor known for her roles on Netflix's "Sex Education" and HBO's "Girls," was approached to audition for "Conversations With Friends," she said she had not read the source material, nor had she watched the streamer's 2020 adaptation of Rooney's second novel, "Normal People."
Kirke said she agreed to a Zoom audition once she wrapped filming on "Sex Education" and ultimately got the role.
Throughout production, which took place mostly in Ireland in 2021, the actor said she never met Rooney.
"She was never on set, not once," Kirke said.
According to Vanity Fair, Rooney was heavily involved in casting "Conversations With Friends" before taking leave to write her third book, "Beautiful World, Where Are You," which hit shelves in September 2021.
While bringing Melissa to life, Kirke took it upon herself to find a connection to her character, she told The Telegraph.
"I did a lot of writing – stream of consciousness – until I could find a link," she explained, adding that she frequently jotted down thoughts about Melissa in a notebook she carried around set.
Kirke, who shares two children with her ex-husband Michael Mosberg and is currently in a relationship with Alex Cameron, said that she kept her own lived experiences detached from Melissa.
"If I'm playing a wife in a troubled marriage, I won't think about my own marriage because then I'm putting myself into it and that's not the job," she said.
Hulu's "Conversations With Friends" premieres on May 15.
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