Author Colleen Hoover takes the reigns in film adaptation of Reminders Of Him

American Colleen Hoover has sold 20 million books and been named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine, but she’s best known as the author of It Ends With Us.

The book was a bestseller, although, for many people, the title is now irrevocably tied to the bitter court battle between the co-stars of the big-screen adaptation, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who also directed the film.

It’s fair to say Hoover learned a few things that she has applied to Reminders Of Him, Hollywood’s next attempt to adapt one of her books.

“This is actually the first one that I’ve been able to be involved in,” the author tells PLAY.

Hoover had an executive producer credit on the ill-fated It Ends With Us, and again on last year’s adaptation of Regretting You, which didn’t exactly wow critics but was moderately successful at the box office.

On Reminders Of Him, however, the author was heavily involved from the start.

“It was just really an honour to be able to be involved in every part of it, from the scriptwriting to the casting to the editing and now the PR,” she says.

“It’s just been a joy and also very eye-opening to see how hard it is to work on a film; I will never watch a movie the same way again, that’s for sure.”

Casting a book adaptation is a fraught undertaking — if you get it wrong and the characters in the film don’t live up to a reader’s imagination, well, you risk alienating the audience.

Reminders Of Him provided a challenge in that regard, because the central characters of Kenna and Ledger, played by Maika Monroe (Longlegs) and Tyriq Withers (I Know What You Did Last Summer) respectively, are far from straightforward.

The film follows Kenna as she returns to a small town and the scene of a car crash that saw her sent to prison for a lengthy stint on a manslaughter charge.

The trauma deepens when we learn the victim was the love of her life, Scotty, who was also the father of the child she had in prison, which was subsequently taken and placed in the care of Scotty’s parents.

Scotty’s best mate, Ledger, is initially incensed at Kenna’s return and attempts to reunite with her child, but comes to feel pity towards her and then something more as the trauma bond between them kindles a guilt-laden romance.

The key to this adaptation is in the casting of these characters, so you’d think Hoover would be ideally suited to select actors that matched how she originally conceived them.

“I don’t do that. I find it very hard, actually, to physically picture my characters when I write, to the point that my editors always send my manuscript back and they’re like, ‘Can you describe what these characters look like’,” Hoover admits.

“For me, it’s more of the emotions and their personality . . . so, I don’t think I imagined that Maika and Tyriq would bring them to life as well as they did, in the way that they did, and then also bring a lot of themselves into the role that you don’t get in the book.

“I couldn’t be happier with how their performances turned out.”

Adapting a romance novel can easily veer into melodrama, but Withers and Monroe strive to keep this story rooted in authenticity, depicting two people grieving the same person from very different perspectives.

“I think we aren’t defined by our worst mistakes,” Withers says of the film’s themes. “That helps me become a better version of myself in the real world.”

Playing Kenna was similarly inspiring for Monroe.

“I think her biggest challenge in this movie is learning to forgive herself,” she says.

“There’s a lot of hatred towards herself for what happened, and a lot of weight on her shoulders, so for her to love herself again, which I think you start seeing at the end of this film, it was something I just connected with on a very deep level.”

Beyond its examination of grief, the film offers a timely message on how we should aspire to treat others, regardless of any perceived wrong they may have done us.

“People can tend to be deeply insecure,” Withers acknowledges.

“And I think how you treat people, or the insults you throw, stem from what’s within, because we’re all an accumulation of our past traumas.

“So, I think my call to action is to lead with love and a little more kindness, and a lot more consensual hugs, because that can go a long way.”

Reminders Of Him is in cinemas now.