WHAT DO YOU THINK NORMAL PEOPLE IS ABOUT?
It's about being a human being and growing up from the age of 17 to 22: those years in your life are so massive. At 18, I thought I knew it all and people would say how I would feel different when I'm 21.
The book is so beautifully written in so many tiny moments that at the time feel so insignificant, but can change the course of your life. In the series, Connell [Paul Mescal] says something along the lines of how "the smallest thing can change everything" and that's what the book is about – being a young person.
WHY DO MARIANNE AND CONNELL HAVE SUCH A HOLD ON EACH OTHER?
Probably familiarity. They have both come from Sligo to Trinity: it's a big change and they know each other's context.
At times they are toxic and don't communicate. But when they do, they speak to each other in a way that they can't speak to anyone else and it's rare to find those people. They also really fancy each other, which is probably a key reason!
WHAT DOES CONNELL MEAN TO MARIANNE?
What she needs and loves about Connell is his homeliness; he has such a warm family. Even though it's just him and his mother, their relationship is so much fuller and warmer than anything Marianne's had at home. I think she finds him incredibly intelligent; she loves the way his brain works and wants to feel settled. They just have this connection which is indescribable.
HOW IS LIFE IN DUBLIN DIFFERENT FROM SLIGO FOR MARIANNE?
For Marianne, it's a massive difference. In Sligo, she's a loner, an introvert, she's very much her own person. She sees the social ladder as something she isn't a part of. When she goes to Trinity, everything that made her unique and stand out in the wrong way in Sligo makes her interesting, and people are drawn to her because she has confidence – she doesn't care about being part of social structures.
But we slowly realise at Trinity that she's still very much alone among other people until Connell comes along. She still has the same anxiety and lack of self-love.
HOW WAS WORKING WITH SALLY ROONEY?
Sally was amazing. She has this amazing story and trusted us to deal with it. Meeting her at the read-through was so cool. She said we were making our own version of the story. She works so well with [directors] Lenny [Abrahamson] and Hettie [Macdonald]. I listen to a lot of her podcasts as her accent was something I wanted to try to feed into Marianne.
HOW HARD WAS IT FILMING IN AN IRISH ACCENT?
My dad's Scottish and my mum's from Northern Ireland so I've always had accents in my house. My mum and I always speak in accents with each other – and everyone always asks me where I'm from! So, I've always been tuned into accents. It's kind of like singing, once you know the tune and the rhythm of it. I also had a brilliant accent coach who helped me, and I listened to Paul [who's Irish] speaking, which really helped.
HOW WAS THE SHOOT?
The earlier part was so fun, there are so many parts where they are so happy. The later part of filming was a bit darker. Paul and I would go into scenes getting frustrated and we would always say how we wish they would just talk to each other – it would solve everything!
:: Normal People is available as a complete boxset on BBC iPlayer.
