Author Laura Dave Is Gearing Up for New Book ‘The Night We Lost Him’ Netflix’s Adaptation
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00:00And welcome to Us Weekly.
00:01Thank you for having me.
00:02Of course.
00:03So first off, we want to talk about the idea for this book.
00:06Where did this come from?
00:08Are any of these places real in this book?
00:10Like, all I could think of when I was reading it was like,
00:12is this a real place?
00:13And where did it come from in your mind?
00:15Yes.
00:15So the book takes place primarily
00:18on the central coast of California.
00:20It opens in a town called Carpinteria,
00:22which is this beautiful town just between Santa Barbara
00:25and Los Angeles.
00:27And it begins with someone being pushed to their death
00:31off a cliff at their cliffside home in this beachside town.
00:35And what follows is his two children,
00:37who are estranged from each other
00:39from different marriages of his, join forces
00:42to try to figure out what happened to him
00:44and uncover a 50-year-old secret that could have been fatal.
00:48The secret in the book really takes place
00:51over this 50-year-old love story that Nora
00:55is uncovering in the present.
00:56And I love the way there are Easter eggs in the past
00:59that she uncovers in the present.
01:02And through that, she's sort of in conversation
01:04with her father.
01:05So I would say that my favorite two characters
01:07are really Nora and her father, Liam.
01:09Did you struggle with any of them,
01:11writing any of the characters?
01:13You know, I didn't struggle with writing any of the characters.
01:16I really felt like, you know, and different books
01:21sort of have different experiences.
01:23Some are really labors of love.
01:25This was just sort of a love letter.
01:26It was really a love letter to parents and to children
01:30and to lost love to the person that knows us our whole life
01:34and really sees who we are.
01:36So it was really a joyful experience writing this one.
01:39Your books have gotten the Hollywood treatment
01:41at this point.
01:42Do you, has that changed how you write things?
01:45Like, do you write things with an adaptation in mind
01:48or how has that adjusted your like writing process?
01:51You know, it really hasn't adjusted it.
01:54I really think of the book as sort of a separate thing.
01:56And then also, so with books, so much of the time
02:01they get optioned or something happens.
02:03And then I learned a while ago that you never know
02:06if and when something's going to get made.
02:08Watching the last thing he told me get made
02:10and was such amazing people with Jennifer Garner
02:12leading that cast and the way that the whole team there
02:16just embraced that book and brought it to life
02:19has been such a joyful, joyful experience.
02:21And they're about to start a second season,
02:23which is so exciting.
02:25But I really think of it as two separate things.
02:27Okay, cool.
02:28So because of that, do you ever,
02:31when you're writing something,
02:32like because we, all of us at Us,
02:35myself and Sarah, who you met,
02:36we always talk about how we fan cast books
02:37when we're reading them.
02:39And so like, do you ever, while you're writing,
02:41think about like, who would play this
02:43or who am I viewing in your head?
02:45You know, that's such a good question.
02:46I don't really, I don't really do that,
02:49though I am writing the sequel
02:51for the last thing he told me.
02:53So that one you have to.
02:53And so for that one, now Jennifer Garner's in my head
02:57because she's already there.
02:58So I get to, I get to, it's a lovely way
03:01to get to spend time with the real world Hannah.
03:03But I don't normally do that, yeah.
03:07Okay, we, I fan, what we?
03:08I fan cast.
03:09Oh, okay.
03:10I did four characters.
03:11I picked.
03:12Okay, I can't wait to hear.
03:13Okay, for Nora, I said Elizabeth Olsen.
03:16Ooh, that's interesting.
03:18Sam, I did Alexander Ludwig.
03:21He is Kato in the Hunger Games.
03:23He's in Heels.
03:24Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:25Yeah, yeah.
03:26For young Corey, I did Megan Fahey
03:30from the White Lovers.
03:31Oh, that's really good casting.
03:33That's so interesting.
03:34And young Liam was hard for me
03:36because I tried to do someone
03:36who could be versatile age-wise.
03:38So I did Charlie Hunnam.
03:39That's a really, really cool cast.
03:41Thank you so much.
03:43Every time, that's what every author I interview.
03:45And when you guys call me, I'm like wow,
03:48I'm casting your book.
03:49I'm like, that is a great cast.
03:52We're gonna turn this into a movie for Netflix,
03:54so I will pass it along.
03:55I was gonna say, is there anything
03:56you can tell us about that?
03:58Well, when I get home from sort of supporting the book
04:01and getting it into the world,
04:02we're gonna be digging into that.
04:04So next time we see each other,
04:06I should have some updates.