‘The Last Letter From Your Lover’ Author Reveals Inspiration for Netflix Romantic Drama (Exclusive)

The Last Letter From Your Lover is one of Netflix‘s new releases exclusively for the streaming platform. The romantic drama based on the book of the same title stars Shailene Woodley, Callum Turner, Felicity Jones and Joe Alwyn and tells the story of a woman who’s fallen in love unexpectedly as they share love letters throughout a romantic summer. During an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, director Augustine Frizzell and author JoJo Moyes explained what it was like working on the project together and Moyes went in-depth on where the idea initially came from for the book.

“It was me being nosy, actually,” Moyes admitted when asked how she came up with the love story idea. “I was eavesdropping in a bar and I heard a bunch of women trying to unravel a text message from a guy, and it was taking so much of their efforts, I couldn’t work out what it could possible say and it actually turned out to say just “later x,” and they were trying to workout what the guy meant. And it just got me thinking how the old days, like my grandmother’s age, if somebody wrote you a letter you were pretty clear what they thought about you, you know, nobody sits down and puts pen to paper unless they mean something.”

Moyes then noted that since we have so many forms of communication between text messages, emojis, GIFS, emails and more, she confessed that all of her single friends have an incredibly difficult time dating these days because there’s so much confusion around what people really mean. That, in turn, became the inspiration for her story. “Most people who I know who are single have no clue what’s going on with the men or the women they’re dating, it’s like, ‘what do they mean?’” she explained. “So it just got me thinking about things are different and not necessarily always better.”

The classic love story will easily pull the audience in, not only thanks to the wonderful acting, but with the direction of Frizzell, who Moyes applauded for conveying the story on the big screen with such respect to the book. “I’m lucky that JoJo was so involved,” Frizzell admits, while Moyes was quick to note that sometimes directors are not a fan of having the author hands-on in the process. “We met early on and talked about what the heart of the story was and what we hoped the movie would be and we completely aligned and tried to keep that relationship throughout, even all the way through the edit when JoJo came and sat with us and watched cuts… .”

Frizzell admitted it was “scary” having the pressure to make sure she was doing the book justice, not just for Moyes but for the fans who fell in love with the book. Last Letter From Your Lover can be streamed on Netflix.