Normal People (TV series)

Normal People is a romantic drama limited series based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Sally Rooney. It was written by Rooney, Alice Birch and Mark O'Rowe, and directed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald. The series follows the relationship between Marianne Sheridan (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell Waldron (Paul Mescal), who attend the same secondary school and the same university.

The series was greenlit in 2019, with Edgar-Jones and Mescal announced to star. The remaining cast was rounded out soon after Rooney was confirmed as one of the series' writers, alongside Birch and O'Rowe. Macdonald was then announced as a director with Abrahamson, continuing his long-standing relationship with the series' producers, Element Pictures. Principal photography began in May 2019 and concluded in February 2020, with filming locations including County Sligo, Dublin, Sant'Oreste, and Luleå.

Normal People first premiered in the United Kingdom on 26 April 2020, on BBC Three. Its episodes began airing weekly on RTÉ One in Ireland from 28 April until June 2, and it premiered in the United States on Hulu on 29 April. The series received positive reviews, primarily for its cast performances: Mescal was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards and won for Best Actor at the 67th British Academy Television Awards.

The series follows Marianne Sheridan, an affluent and isolated social outcast, and Connell Waldron, a popular, high-achieving student with anxiety, as they begin a secretive relationship during their final days of secondary school in County Sligo. Connell's mother, Lorraine, is employed by Marianne's mother, Denise, as a cleaner. Connell and Marianne's relationship becomes strained as their lives begin to change when they go on to attend Trinity College in Dublin.

In May 2019, it was announced that BBC Three and Hulu would adapt Rooney's novel into a limited series which will premiere in 2020. Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones were also announced to star as Connell and Marianne, respectively. The remainder of the cast, including Aislín McGuckin and Sarah Greene, was rounded out soon after. Rooney was hired to adapt her novel alongside Alice Birch and Mark O'Rowe. Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald were then confirmed as directors, with the Irish company Element Pictures acting as the series' lead producers.

Principal photography began on location in County Sligo and Dublin in May 2019. Tubbercurry primarily made up the fictional town of Carricklea, with Streedagh Point along Wild Atlantic Way used for beach scenes, Knockmore House in Enniskerry for the Sheridans' residence, and a terraced home in Shankill for the Waldrons' residence.

Hartstown Community School in Clonsilla was used to depict the secondary school scenes, which featured real students as extras. Students from Trinity College Dublin were also used as extras during filming at the university. Scenes at Marianne's Dublin flat were shot on Wellington Road in Ballsbridge.

Although set in Trieste in the novel, filming took place in Central Italy, primarily in and around Sant'Oreste, Stimigliano, and the villa Il Casale on Tenuta di Verzano, in Lazio. Scenes set in Luleå were filmed in February 2020 to ensure adequate snowfall and for the Baltic Sea to be frozen over for a scene depicting Marianne walking.