It's been a crazy five years for author SJ Watson, who after penning international bestseller Before I Go To Sleep, sees the story hit the big screen this week, with Nicole Kidman as his leading lady.
Working for the NHS, Watson wrote his debut book in between shifts, but little did he know that his chilling tale of Christine, who wakes up everyday with no memory of who she is, would be a literary phenomenon. Alongside huge success back home, the book soared to number seven on the US bestseller list upon its release in 2011, the highest position for a debut novel by a British author since Harry Potter's J. K. Rowling.
And a mere three years later, Christine's story is now a major new movie, starring Nicole in the lead, alongside Brit talents Colin Firth and Mark Strong. Writing for The Independent, Watson has revealed just how "surreal" the page to screen journey has been for him.
Despite getting calls from big-time producers almost immediately after his book was published, Watson writes that he "didn't get too excited" as "I'd heard that it takes on average nine years to turn a book into a film, and most don't get made at all." The author also, understandably, had worries about how his story could be "mangled' in the transition." But the author's concerns disappeared when he saw the script, "which I loved straight away. Then the cast started to come together, and things got even more surreal. Nicole Kidman? Colin Firth? Mark Strong? I thought someone was playing an elaborate practical joke."
Nicole Kidman stars in Before I Go to Sleep
Fast forward to last year and Watson writes that "one day in February 2013, I found myself in Twickenham Studios. The day was one of the most extraordinary of my life... When I saw Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth sitting just a few feet away, looking exactly how my characters ought to look, any doubts I might've had about the film (negligible as they were) vanished instantly. They completely inhabited Ben and Christine and were bringing them to life in the most unbelievable way."
Watson was particularly impressed with how Nicole embodied Christine, recalling one on set moment: "I was watching Nicole Kidman filming a scene and it wasn't quite working. 'It's the line,' she said. 'Christine wouldn't say that.' I hadn't spotted it, but when she offered her alternative the whole scene suddenly clicked into place. It was incredible to watch, and I remember thinking that she now knew Christine at least as well as I did."
"The character that began in my head, all that time ago, now has another existence, another incarnation, and though I kind of miss her, I couldn't be happier."
Before I Go To Sleep is in UK cinemas from today.
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