Prime Video’s new series,We Were Liars, is based on the book of the same name by E. Lockhart. It is a psychological horror that tells the story of a young girl who has lost some of her memories after a terrible accident. As with most adaptations,some things needed to be changed for the screen. This was especially challenging because the showrunners, Julie Plec and Carina Adly MacKenzie, are such big fans of the book. Surprisingly enough, they had a harder time accepting the changes than the author did.
E. Lockhart has also writtenFamily of Liars: The Prequel to We Were LiarsandWe Fell Apart: A We Were Liars Novel. Should the series garner a big fan base, it could easily adapt these books as a second and third series. The entire first season ofWe Were Liarsreleases onPrime Videoon June 18.
ScreenRantspoke withshowrunners Julie Plec and Carina Adly MacKenzie, along with author E. Lockhart, about the upcoming series. They detailed what the dynamic was like in the writers' room, especially when it came time to make changes. They also discussed their desire to continue the series, while Lockhart revealed what it was like for her to see her characters and story come to life.
Because of the love that the showrunners have for theWe Were Liarsbook, they found great fulfillment in their collaboration with the author. “We invited Emily into the writer’s room from the jump. She was with us for the first ten weeks of the writer’s room, and then she also wrote our finale,” Plec explained. “It was a really great experience. To be honest, I thought it was going to be really hard for her because I know that I would be protective of my book. And just in the nature of the business, you have to make changes.I thought it was going to feel like she was watching somebody do surgery on her baby.But no, she really trusted us as the babysitters.”
There were things in the book that I was clinging to, white-knuckled, and Emily would be like, ‘It doesn’t really matter.’
She went on to reveal that they, as the showrunners, had a harder time making changes. “There were things in the book that I was clinging to, white-knuckled, and Emily would be like, ‘It doesn’t really matter.’ I was the mediator between Emily Lockhart being willing to let anything go and Carina being militantly, obsessively refusing to part with the word.” MacKenzie admitted this was true, claiming “When booktok inevitably gets mad about changes made, just know I too am mad. I am one of you.”
Lockhart admitted that her favorite part of the entire process was the post-production editing. “I was involved with the casting process, the location scouting. I was on set for ten weeks. I wrote the finale, and then I gave notes during post-production. I really loved the post-production process. Just watching the episodes over and over and giving notes and thinking about how the story was really coming together in that editing process.”
E. Lockhart Was Extremely Involved In The Creative Process & Loved Seeing Her Book Come To Life
“I Was Basically Hyperventilating All The Time”
When asked about the inspiration behind this story, Lockhart explained, “I’m always really interested in the question of what do you do with yourself when you have done something horrible? I think we’ve all done things that we regret, and this is just turning this up to eleven. It’s a question that comes up in my books all the time, and so I’m writing from that place.”
She recalled what it was like to see her story and characters literally come to life before her eyes, admitting that “I was basically hyperventilating all the time.” Thanks to the new Prime Video series, Lockhart’s work is sure to be discovered — or re-discovered — by many, something she doesn’t take lightly. “I think any author who is still finding readers for a story eleven years after it was published is counting their blessings. A lot of books go out of print, or a lot of books just sort of fade off and are only selling a couple hundred copies a year. I have been so, so lucky to have an ongoing readership for this book.”
The Showrunners Prepped The Groundwork For The We Were Liars Prequel To Be Adapted
“We Think People Are Going To Love It So Much That They Are Going To Just Want More Of Everybody”
Knowing that there is more of theWe Were Liarsstory to possibly adapt, the showrunners kept this in mind while working on the first season. MacKenzie explained, “When we were going into writing season 1, one of the things that we [had] to make sure that we do was to make the mother and the three sister characters interesting and nuanced enough that as a viewer, you kind of want to know how they got that way.” She added, “Hopefully, in success, we would love to delve into that story for season 2. It really helped us. Having that backstory and knowing their secrets really helped us, and I think the actresses, to understand who these characters are.”
Plec added that the story does wrap up in the first season, but there is so much more to tell, so she thinks audiences will want to see more. “We Were Liars is a show based on a book that very clearly has a true ending. Yes, it could very clearly work as a limited series. We think people are going to love it so much that they are going to just want more of everybody, and we are set up to give it to them. We are hoping that the next chapter, so to speak, in this journey is us being able to bring additional seasons into the world.”
We Were Liars
Cast
We Were Liars follows 17-year-old Cadence as she returns to Beechwood Island, seeking answers about a mysterious accident that left her with amnesia. The series explores her journey amid the private summer gathering of the Sinclair family, where secrets are guarded by friends and past love.
