Believe it or not, Netflix’s People We Meet on Vacation could have been much, much sexier.
“I saw the scene as [director Brett Haley] shot it, and it was gorgeous and perfect,” author Emily Henry told Variety in a Friday, January 9, interview. “I feel a little bit guilty because I went and told all of my friends, ‘It’s one of the sexiest sex scenes I’ve ever seen in my life.’ Like, genuinely it was like Titanic-level to me. It was so good and raw and tender.”
People We Meet on Vacation, costarring Emily Bader and Tom Blyth as Poppy Wright and Alex Nilson, is adapted from Henry’s 2021 romance novel of the same name. Just like the book, the characters hook up after traveling together for Alex’s brother’s destination wedding.
“When Brett first started considering cutting it, that was because they had started doing test screenings and people who, especially people who weren’t familiar with the books, felt kind of like it was a hard right turn in the movie,” Henry, 34, told the outlet of the reconfigured spicy scene. “Brett first brought that to me and asked, ‘How important is seeing the sex scene to you and to your readers?’ I was like, ‘I think it is kind of important, in a way, because it’s something we’re de-stigmatizing, but ultimately, my opinion would be that if it doesn’t fit in the movie, then it doesn’t work.’”
Haley, 42, further told Variety that developing Poppy and Alex’s “friendship chemistry” was more important than showcasing their romantic spark.
“I wanted to do right by Emily’s book, and so we shot a scene that was literally, exactly what’s in the book, and readers know what that means,” Haley explained. “It, frankly, just didn’t gel with the film. It just didn’t tonally work, so it was really about finding the balance.”
While People We Meet on Vacation was not overtly spicy, that’s not to say that adaptations of Henry’s other books will follow suit. (Henry’s novels Beach Read, Funny Story, Happy Place and Book Lovers have all been optioned for film.)
“I do think that that will be something that will vary from adaptation to adaptation,” Henry teased on Friday. “I think the tone of the different projects are not necessarily all going to be the same tone as People We Meet on Vacation, just like I don’t think the books are exactly the same tone. I do think we’ll have some sexier sex scenes, and I think we’ll have others that are more a traditional, classic rom-com fade-to-black situation.”
None of Henry’s other adaptations have been cast yet — and the author doesn’t have a “short list” for her potential leads.
“I don’t picture an actor when I’m writing, but after there’s a book that’s starting to get adapted, I do start thinking about it,” Henry exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this week, specifically addressing fan theories that Joe Keery or Dylan O’Brien could star as Miles in Funny Story. “Those actors are definitely on my mental Miles list. I think both of them would make total sense. I definitely could see that and I think they’d be amazing.”
People We Meet on Vacation is now streaming on Netflix.
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