Emily Henry announces casting for film adaptation of 'People We Meet On Vacation' (original) (raw)
The film adaptation of Emily Henry's "People We Meet On Vacation" has cast its two leads.
Emily Bader from the hit Prime Video show "My Lady Jane" and Tom Blyth from "The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" have been cast as Poppy and Alex in the film, Henry announced via her newsletter Aug. 2.
"So now I can tell you our movie-version of Poppy and Alex are Emily Bader and Tom Blyth and they are PERFECT. He’s so stoic, repressed, quietly hilarious. She’s an irresistible rascal with a secret softness," Henry wrote.
In the email, the author also confirmed that the film's script, written by "How To End A Love Story" author Yulin Kuang, is "mostly" final and "hilarious."
"People We Meet On Vacation" is one of Henry's five book-to-screen adaptations currently in the works, in addition to “Beach Read," “Book Lovers,” “Happy Place” and “Funny Story." Henry has written five romance books since 2020, the latest of which was published April 23.
Here’s everything we know about the upcoming adaptations of Henry’s bestselling romance reads.
5 of Henry’s books are being produced by different studios
Five of Henry’s romances have all been optioned for film or series adaptations, but all with different teams, according to Henry’s agents.
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‘People We Meet on Vacation’
Announced in October 2022, the first book that received the official adaptation greenlight was “People We Meet on Vacation,” which will be directed by Brett Haley with a screenplay written by Kuang. The film is being produced by Temple Hill with the studio 3000 Pictures.
“People We Meet On Vacation” follows best friends Poppy and Alex as they embark on one of their annual summer vacations after a two-year hiatus in order to rekindle their friendship. (Because this is a romance, they, of course, fall in love along the way.)
Henry shared the news on Instagram in October 2022 and penned a simple caption alongside the announcement: “How’s everyone’s Tuesday?” she wrote.
Kuang, a screenwriter and romance author, marks the one overlap across the film projects, as she is also set to adapt and direct “Beach Read,” with 20th Century Studios and Original Film producing.
“People We Meet On Vacation” will star Emily Bader and Tom Blyth.
In her email Aug. 2, Henry said the casting process "has had me in knots."
"From the very beginning, we’ve known that this movie would sink or swim based on chemistry," she wrote.
Casting Bader and Blyth involved a chemistry read that occurred over Zoom, Henry said.
"Obviously, this is a tall order. Having chemistry in real life is one thing, having chemistry on screen is another, but having chemistry on Zoom is… dare I say… a miracle?" she wrote. "And that’s what this was. When I watched these two people meet, fall in love, and fall apart, I was covered in chills. I laughed aloud within two minutes of seeing them onscreen together. I cried by the end. I had no idea what to expect from these two actors, and I fell completely in love with them."
Henry also confirmed that the production has chosen filming locations. The book version of "People We Meet On Vacation" notably follows Poppy and Alex over years of vacations in places like Croatia and Iceland.
In one of the first major departures from the book, the central vacation at the story is shifting from Palm Springs to Barcelona, Henry shared.
‘Beach Read’
In “Beach Read,” two writers, January and Gus, try to overcome writer's block by swapping signature genres while living (and loving) on the shore of Lake Michigan.
“Beach Read,” while the first in the Henry literary universe, was Henry’s most recent book-to-film announcement. The author shared the news April 5, 2023, on Instagram.
“Who’s ready to cry,” she wrote.
Kuang, who will make her feature-length directing debut with “Beach Read,” opened up about her approach to adapting the novel in an Instagram post, in which she revealed that she reread the book in Holland, Michigan, for a “Beach Read-Inspired Grand Tour” of the story’s setting.
“I love January and Gus and now North Bear Shores with my whole heart and this adaptation is my love letter to all of them,” she said.
Henry responded to Kuang’s caption, calling her “THEE one.”
‘Book Lovers’
“Book Lovers” is being produced by Tango, the studio behind the Mescal-led tearjerker “Aftersun,” with Sarah Heyward attached to adapt.
The book follows literary agent Nora, who goes on a trip with her younger sister to North Carolina and runs into Charlie, a brooding rival editor.
When announcing the film news on March 28, 2023, Henry opted for an “earnest caption” over a “brush-off.”
“There has been a lot of ‘rom-com films are dead’ talk over the last few years even though absolutely everyone I know is desperate for them,” she wrote. “The industry, even more than publishing, wants a sure thing, and as we all know, that is the absolute worst constraint for making art. I’m so grateful Tango wants to make this.”
In the caption, she explained why romance stories are so important to her. Despite having a “guaranteed ‘happy ending,’” the stories represent “hope” amid the struggles of real life, she said.
“This movie is going to funny, cozy, moving and messy. I can’t wait. Thank you for being the best audience,” she wrote, in closing.
‘Happy Place’
Henry’s 2023 novel “Happy Place” centers on Harriet and her ex-fiancé Wyn, who, having separated months ago, agree to pretend to be together during an annual weeklong vacation with their friends.
Marking a shift from previous adaptations, “Happy Place” is poised for a series adaptation, per Deadline and confirmed by Henry on her Instagram.
Netflix has optioned the novel for Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions. Henry shared her thoughts on the news on Instagram June 26.
“Happy Place show incoming, all thanks to @netflix @egt239 and the whole rest of the team at @jlo’s production company, Nuyorican,” she captioned the post.
Henry further clarified that “no one has been cast yet,” adding, “When they are, they will be actors in their late 20s to early 30s.” For the time being, Henry invited fans to “drop (their) fan casts” in the comments.
Addressing concerns about outlets labeling the novel as young adult, Henry said, “Hollywood just doesn’t understand what that term means.”
“I’m very lucky Nuyorican wants me involved (a lot of production companies don’t like having the authors included), so I’m going to do my best and fight my hardest to make it something you will all love,” she added.
‘Funny Story’
Henry’s latest bestseller, “Funny Story,” is slated for a film adaptation, too. This time, however, Henry plans to undertake the adaptation herself, according to Variety.
Lyrical Media and Ryder Picture Company are set to produce “Funny Story” with Henry writing the script.
Described on Henry’s website as a “shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common,” the novel, released April 23, centers on Daphne and Miles. The two become roommates after their exes — childhood best friends Peter and Petra — end their relationships and start dating.
In her casting update Aug. 2, Henry revealed that she recently turned in a draft of the "Funny Story" script.
"So things are moving there, and I’m very excited to share more with you about that soon," she wrote.
Fans have strong casting opinions
On TikTok, Emily Henry’s leading men are widely considered the gold standard when it comes to “book boyfriends.” As a result, fans are very invested in who will be responsible for bringing the beloved characters to life.
Henry leans into the conversation.
“My fave thing about posting these is always that you guys tag every hot person you can think of and I think that’s beautiful,” Henry commented on her own post announcing the “Book Lovers” film.
She even has an entire Instagram story highlight dedicated to compiling the casting dreams of “Beach Read” fans. Some frequent recommendations include Florence Pugh, Ana de Armas, Annie Murphy or Zoey Deutch as January, and Chris Evans, Dev Patel, Henry Golding or Penn Badgley as Gus.
One of the most prevalent theories originally involved the casting of Alex in “People We Meet On Vacation.” Eagle-eyed TikTok fans noticed that actor Calahan Skogman, known for his role as Matthias in “Shadow and Bone,” follows and often interacts with Henry on Instagram.
“He’s just so Alex, and Emily Henry keeps liking his posts,” one TikTok user said in a video in January 2023. “Ma’am, just tell us he’s Alex already.”
Henry's announcement Aug. 2 put to rest those rumors, with Blyth set to play Alex.
The casting for "Beach Read," which has not been announced yet, is also a hot topic in the fandom.
Excitement reached a fever pitch in March 2024 when Henry and “Beach Read” director and screenwriter Kuang both reposted a St. Patrick’s Day photo of actors Paul Mescal and Ayo Edebiri on their Instagram stories, creating speculation that the duo might play one of Henry’s famous book couples. To add fuel to the fire, the post came months after Mescal said in an interview he’d like to star in a rom-com with Edebiri, specifically.
Kuang shared her thoughts on the online chatter with TODAY.com.
“We’re so early days that we aren’t really even having those conversations, is what I can tell you,” she says of “Beach Read” casting. “But no bad ideas here, guys. I love the enthusiasm.”
Henry also addressed rumors of a Mescal-Edebiri pair in one of her adaptations in a March interview with Variety.
“I can’t confirm or deny anything with casting for any movie. I will say that those are two of my favorite ‘Irish’ actors,” Henry said.
For the record, Mescal is Irish and Edebiri is American — but it’s a running joke on social media that she’s from Ireland.
Henry added that she thinks they’d be “amazing” at bringing one — or several — of her book couples to life.
“I actually saw them being discussed (online) for several different roles — and I definitely have a favorite,” she told Variety. “But it’s fun, because different adaptations would either have one of them playing to type, or one of those adaptations would have them both playing to type, and one of them would have them both playing against type. It’s an interesting thing. I mean, they’re great, they could do anything.”
Is there any crossover between the movies?
Here’s where things get interesting. While the film adaptations are separate productions, the five romance books are canonically set in the same universe.
After “Beach Read,” each of the subsequent books include a subtle reference to the characters explored in another Henry book.
For example, Charlie, the love interest in “Book Lovers,” turns out to be the editor for January, the main character of “Beach Read.”
Then in “People We Meet on Vacation” and 2023’s “Happy Place,” the characters often stop in quaint book stores and make passing comments on the latest works of Gus Everett, January’s husband.
In “Book Lovers,” Nora and Charlie finally get their happy ending when he professes his love for her in a West Village bookstore — the same bookstore that the main characters in “Happy Place” live over for a time.
In an extended “Beach Read” epilogue entitled “Layover,” the three couples of Henry’s first three adult romance books find themselves stuck in the same airport at Christmastime. January and Gus spot Charlie and Nora kissing as they wait at their gate. They then head to a Chili’s Too restaurant and encounter Poppy serenading a bashful Alex with karaoke.
Most recently in "Funny Story," Miles and Daphne go kayaking and run into a boisterous couple named Gladys and Keith — a pair of alter egos Poppy and Alex put on to entertain themselves on trips.
No word as to whether the movies, like the books, will be in conversation with each other.
Maddie Ellis is a weekend editor at TODAY Digital.
Anna Kaplan is a news and trending reporter for TODAY.com.