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Spoilers forConversations With Friendsepisode 12 below.
To play someone so reserved is a challenge.
To do it in your first leading television role is even more daunting.
I read it in a day and was just in bits over it.
It made me feel really understood.
Frances felt like a real person because shes described so specifically.
In the tone of the book, its really apparent that thats her voice.
Lenny has this amazing ability to really put you at ease.
He works with newcomers a lot and has this ability to create such a collaborative environment.
This is your first screen role.
How did it feel to walk on set and start inhabiting this character?I was terrified.
It gave me time to process that I was actually going to do this and pull the book apart.
By the first day, I felt like I was sprinting to set.
I was so ready to go.
So much of how the show is filmed accommodates that.
Lenny is such a close director.
You feel like you are inside their heads.
The way they prepared to shoot is all wrapped up in how you feel like youre in Francess head.
The characters struggle to communicate so much that a lot of their communication is through intimacy.
Its an extension of a conversation with those moments rather than dialogue.
Actually, its all dialogue in a sense: The intimate scenes are just dialogue that becomes physical.
That first time is such high stakes for so many reasons.
We wanted to really honor how massive it is for both of them to be doing this.
Ita will make shapes on the floor and say, Maybe this is how theyre being intimate.
Youll rehearse it so its all muscle memory.
It also requires a level of comfort with your co-star, Joe.
We instantly got on so well, and hes one of my best friends now.
We all spent so much time with each other that I think that kind of translates.
The ending of the show is the same as the ending of the novel.
What is she embarking on?
After she gets her diagnosis, shes completely spiraling and she cant grab onto anything.
That is her rock bottom.
Through going that low, she realizes whats actually important to her, and all along its been Bobbi.
I think Bobbi and Frances are soulmates, and I dont think Frances could see a life without Bobbi.
You see her healing and learning and taking responsibility.
When the call with Nick happens, theres a sense shes changed in a way.
Actually, hes speaking to a different Frances, one with much greater perspective.
I actually dont think its that.
Its a different leap of faith because shes different.
I know people have such conflicted feelings about the ending, and I think it can be anything.
I really admire Sally making that the ending, because its in the heart of the story.
Its just always going to be complicated.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
