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Emily Henry is a fan of some of the changes made for the People We Meet on Vacation movieThe author spoke with PEOPLE about some of the differences between her 2021 bestselling novel and the Netflix adaptation starring Tom Blyth and Emily Bader”The things that were lost, I feel like they’re still in the book,” Henry says. “They’re always going to be in the book”
When Emily Henry’s blockbuster 2021 novel, People We Meet on Vacation, was turned into a film, there were bound to be some changes from page to screen.
People We Meet on Vacation, now streaming on Netflix, follows longtime friends Poppy (Emily Bader) and Alex (Tom Blyth), who once had a yearly tradition of taking vacations together around the world. After one disastrous trip, they become estranged, until Poppy calls Alex to join her for another journey. The book was adapted for the screen by director Brett Haley and screenwriters Yulin Kuang, Amos Vernon and Nunzio Randazzo.
Henry, 34, spoke about some of the changes in the film in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. For one, the number of vacations that Poppy and Alex take together had to be cut down. The film focuses on a just a few of their destination trips, including to Spain, Italy and New Orleans.
“I was really happy that the stuff from Tuscany made it in,” Henry says. “There’s been changes there too, but there were things that I really wanted to make it in and we didn’t know if they would, and Brett found a way to make it work. But the things that were lost, I feel like they’re still in the book. They’re always going to be in the book.”
Emily Bader and Tom Blyth in ‘People We Meet on Vacation’.
Michele K. Short/Netflix
Henry also noted that she loved a new addition to the character Sarah, Alex’s girlfriend played by Sarah Catherine Hook. In the novel, Sarah is a high school teacher who works alongside Alex, but in the movie, she works for her family’s company. Later, she switches fields and becomes a flight attendant.
“I love the change with Sarah’s job,” Henry says. “Initially, I was like, her original job, I don’t get. I was like, ‘That feels like a lateral move, but I understand the logic, whatever.’ But there’s some more development with where that character gets taken.”
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Henry says that her admiration for Sarah truly materialized while watching an early screening of the film alongside fans in New Orleans. “Watching it with the audience, I just felt like this is so earned, just giving her this extra little beat,” Henry shares. “I love that character.”
Henry also says that seeing “phenomenal talents” Bader and Blyth bring her characters to life was a treat too. “When Emily Bader cries, you just want to weep. I just want to weep. There’s just something about her eyes that just cut me straight to my heart,” the author says. “I was like, ‘Please come back and do another romcom someday.’ She’s so, so, so good at it.”
Tom Blyth and Emily Bader in ‘People We Meet on Vacation’.
Courtesy of Netflix
As for Blyth, 30, Henry says the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes star was “so good at being the straight man.”
“His reactions to the things that [Poppy’s] doing, him having to just kind of adjust his life because of her decisions — I just think they both have such a talent for comedy,” she adds.
Bader, 29, also tells PEOPLE that Henry had some inspiring advice for the two leading stars about stepping into Poppy and Alex’s shoes. “She was really supportive, and set us free with her approval in some way,” the actress says.
Bader adds, “She came to set, and I think she was involved [in] pre-production a lot with Brett and Yulin, who wrote the script. She basically showed up and said, ‘I’m happy with this decision. You guys are them. Have fun. Be yourself.’ ”
People We Meet on Vacation is now streaming on Netflix.