Colleen Hoover explains how Reminders of Him changed her perspective on adapting her novels

Unless you've been living under a cultural rock for the last decade, chances are you've heard the name Colleen Hoover. The bestselling author is behind a large catalogue of beloved novels, which have sold more than 20 million books. Her massive surge in popularity primarily came from the BookTok community on TikTok, where her most popular novel, It Ends With Us, found itself a particularly devoted following.

Two years ago, that book was the first of Hoover's to transition to the big screen – in a film starring Blake Lively and Brandon Sklenar. Since then, several more of Hoover's novels have been picked up by Hollywood studios, including last year's Regretting You, starring Allison Williams, Dave Franco and McKenna Grace, as well as the upcoming Verity, which is set to premiere later this year and will star Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway, alongside Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett.

Out of all of Hoover's adaptations so far, however, it is the most recent, Reminders of Him, in which she has had the most direct involvement.

Acting as an executive producer on the film, Hoover was present on set throughout filming, and was thus able to watch the cast bring her beloved characters to life while also giving her input on different aspects of the film.

Speaking exclusively to Radio Times, Hoover explained that being so present on the Reminders of Him set changed her approach to adapting her own work to the big screen, and remarked that it completely remodelled the way she sees filmmaking.

"Oh man, this one was completely different," she said, "Like, I actually got to be on set for this one the whole time, and in pre-production. And we'd be in the editing room. It was a whole different experience.

"And just being able to see it all come to life, and the hard work that goes into it. I don't think I'll ever look at filmmaking the same way again."

Reminders of Him stars Maika Monroe in the lead role as Kenna Rowan, a woman recently released from prison who returns home to connect with her young daughter Diem, while Tyriq Withers plays her love interest, Ledger. Working on a film with the original creator of their characters watching so closely could have easily proven to be a nerve-wracking experience for the actors, but the pair confirmed it was anything but.

"[Hoover] was the biggest bully on set," Withers laughed, "No, I'm joking. It was such a dream having Colleen there on set, the creator of these characters. She really saw Ledger in me, and Kenna in Maika.

"So yeah, when you have the author there, it was like, if she's happy, then I'm happy."

"I mean, it was such a gift," added Monroe, "Colleen is so collaborative, and was such a safe space to talk about ideas, or if I was like 'Oh, what if I said this here," she'd be like 'Oh, love that.' So we became fast friends. She's the best."

As well as Monroe and Withers, Reminders of Him also stars the likes of Lauren Graham, Bradley Whitford, Rudy Pankow, Nicholas Duvernay, Monika Myers and Lainey Wilson.

Reminders of Him is now showing in UK cinemas.

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