From KCRW, I'm Kim Masters, and this is The Business.

You're listening to a special preview of our conversation with writer Tony McNamara,

who adapted a 1992 Alistair Gray novel into the Academy Award nominated Yorgos Lanthmos film, Poor Things.

It seems that you, years ago, started talking about adapting this book, maybe even before you were making the favorite, of course, with Yorgos Lentemos?

Yeah, we were. I've been done a few drafts of the favorite, and he had told me about the book.

And I think at the time he had, he just made his Greek films. He

hadn't made lobster or so he was a bit like I've got this Scottish book I'm kind of obsessed

with, but no one will give me any money for it because it's pretty weird. And then he went,

then they made the lobster and it was like, oh, maybe he could get some money to develop it. And

so that was like 2017. I think the year

before we shot the favorite or around that time, he gave me the book and we started from there.

The book with the very long, it's a 1992 Alice Dare gray novel titled Poor Things, episodes from

the early life of Archibald McCandless, MD, Scottish Public Health Officer.

You shortened that.

You got at the point in the project, it was shortened.

And I guess I read that Jorgos went to see the author in Scotland at the time he was something in his 80s.

And he just kind of gave him, so you go ahead make this yeah i think they just

hit it off he was texting me pictures and going and he was a you know alice was a great artist and

i think they just were sort of clicked and uh he went for the weekend and he came back and

texted me and goes he'll he'll let us do it and uh we went from that he went for the weekend and he came back and texted me and goes, he'll let us do it.

And we went from that.

He went to Glasgow.

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