If there was ever an author having a moment, it’s Colleen Hoover. After the cinema adaptation of her bestselling novel It Ends with Us – which has gained extra traction in the wake of on-set controversy – Hollywood is lining up to bring more of her can’t-put-down reads to life.
In an interview with Colleen and the cast of Reminders of Him, the film adaptation of her best-selling 2022 novel, the author admits that despite her huge success, some days in the spotlight are more challenging than others.
“Yeah, the fame and attention… I don’t think anyone sits down to write books and thinks, ‘this will get me to this point in my career,” Colleen tells TV WEEK. “I just wanted to tell stories. But the fact that people can go to the theatre and watch these stories come to life, for authors, I think it’s a hope to see it happen.”
Although, Colleen, who is also preparing Verity to reach cinemas later this year, says it’s “mind-boggling” it’s happened so fast. “In the span of two years! But I’m so grateful.”
What is Reminders of Him about?
Reminders of Him isn’t a typical story of romance, but an arc of redemption for a single mother who hopes to rebuild her life in the wake of tragedy. The story follows Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe), who is sentenced to seven years in prison after a car accident claimed the life of her boyfriend, Scotty (Rudy Pankow).
Now, she is out and hoping to meet her daughter, who was put into the care of her boyfriend’s parents following her incarceration.
“I was sent the script and read it immediately,” Maika says of the adaptation. “Then I met with our director Vanessa Caswill and we just clicked. We had some deep conversations about the movie but also about life.”
Who is the cast in Reminders of Him?
After hiring Maika as leading lady Kenna, the actress says the chemistry kept building when Tariq joined the cast as Ledger, a bar owner with a close link to Kenna’s daughter.
“It was immediate,” Maika says of their chemistry read. “After that we knew we’d found our Ledger.”
“When I first read the script, I googled some fan casts and they were all thinking, like a Hemsworth brother – and I was like, okay that’s not going to be me,” Tariq says with a laugh. “But once I got into the process of getting the role, I just muted the noise.”
It’s not an easy road back for Kenna, whose reappearance opens old wounds, while the trauma she buried threatens to burst at the seams. Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham and The West Wing alum Bradley Whitford co-star as Scotty’s grieving parents – a type of role that they both admit doesn’t come their way that often.
“I don’t get dramatic roles that frequently and this was such an incredible opportunity,” Lauren says. “She’s someone in such extreme circumstances too, so I knew it was going to be a juicy challenge. It was a hard subject matter, but it was a great experience.”
Bradley admits Colleen’s novels isn’t traditionally his “go-to genre”, but he was compelled by the story.
“To be honest, the young romance is more my daughter’s genre. She’s a big fan of Colleen. But I was blown away by it [the story]. It’s weirdly romantic, sexy and heartbreaking. It’s an excruciating and impossible situation that she sets up and then without judgement, kind of shows how these people navigate it.”
A memorable reunion
The film sweetly reunites Lauren and Bradley, who briefly worked together on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Prior to filming the 2006 series, both actors were in the height of their careers in separate TV shows, both of which filmed at Warner Bros studios in Los Angeles. Lauren was busy filming Gilmore Girls, while Bradley was in political drama The West Wing.
“We were both to our surprise on these big hit shows that had terrible hours, and I remember very clearly, it was about one or two in the morning and I was just wandering around the [studio] lot in the part where they shot Back To The Future – and I ran into the gorgeous actress from Gilmore Girls. We were both running lines at 2am in the morning,” he says of their first meeting.
“So, I’ve known her forever – and knowing she was going to be in this made me want to do it because it’s impossible for her not to be grounded and truthful”
Despite the calibre of the cast, one young actress will likely steal the spotlight from all of them. Six-year-old Zoe Kosovic (Unspeakable: The Murder of JonBenét) plays Kenna’s daughter, Diem Landry, and is a rising star according to the cast.
“It was always funny because when we would wrap filming, Zoe she didn’t want to go home. She would burst into tears!” Bradley says with a small laugh. “All the older actors were like, ‘Come on, we gotta go’. She was super sweet.”
Reminders of Him is in cinemas March 12.
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