‘People We Meet On Vacation’ Director And Author On Book Cover Nod Scene’s Evolution, ‘When Harry Met Sally’ Inspiration And Paula Abdul Song

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains plot details from the Netflix movie People We Meet on Vacation, based on Emily Henry‘s book.

When images of the People We Meet on Vacation book cover-inspired shot for the film started circulating the Internet shortly after the footage was taken, director Brett Haley was disappointed because he wanted to keep it a surprise, but the moment in the movie underwent a few drafts before reaching its final form.

Based on Emily Henry’s best-selling novel of the same name, the Netflix and Sony film, now streaming, contains two nods to the book’s original cover, which was recreated in full at the end of the movie.

“Ending the movie the way that we did was a big, big thing for me. It felt like a real gift, an easter egg to the readers. and [Emily was] there for this. “I went ‘Put the camera way up high,’ and I want them to come to life,” Haley told Deadline in an early December interview. “I want them to come out of the book cover and end the movie on that.”

At first, the moment was scripted as a passing reference in between the end and beginning of the movie.

“It used to be in the middle — just when they were on their trip at some point next to a pool,” Haley added. “Then at some point, I had the idea of opening the movie with [it] and book fans knowing, when we see [Poppy] alone, we go, ‘Oh, something’s missing here.’”

In the below interview, Henry and Haley offer more insight on the book cover bookend, how When Harry Met Sally carved out a path for People We Meet on Vacation and how “Forever Your Girl” by Paula Abdul helped Haley shape the dance sequence at Bamboula’s Bar.

Editor’s Note: This interview took place before the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner.

DEADLINE: Could you talk about the opening of the film, how it comes full circle at the end, and the recreation of the cover with Poppy by herself followed by when it’s all worked out? How did you make that choice to connect it in that way?

EMILY HENRY: I think that was [Brett’s] idea.

BRETT HALEY: We always knew that we were going to recreate the book cover in the movie at some point.

HENRY: I remember having a conversation too, because there’s this voiceover. [Poppy’s] writing her article. Some of that is pulled directly from the book, but it goes off in this other deranged way. I think that was your idea. I’m not sure it could have been Laura or someone, but I remember you calling me and talking through that, and I instantly was like, ‘Yeah, that’s a great idea. That’s really fun.’ Ultimately, someone else wrote it, but we talked back and forth [about] some of the jokes about being on vacation, what’s the depressing version?

HALEY: It should be good. She’s in these beautiful places, but something’s off, something’s missing. The thing would be Alex, and it also so quickly gets you in her mindset of how she’s feeling about vacation, her job, her life, and Emily [Bader]’s so expressive that you just go, ‘Oh, I know exactly where we are with her.’ We can start the movie.

HENRY: The movie used to be so much talkier, and the script was much talkier, and then I think when [Brett] started actually working with them, [he was] like, ‘we can get rid of so much stuff that was just explaining.’

DEADLINE: You both cited When Harry Met Sally as inspiration, and a central theme of that film is, “Can a man and woman be friends?” – How did you want to trace from that opening part in the car when they can’t stand each other to when they get together?

HENRY: I don’t feel like the “Can a woman and a man be friends?” question really factored in at all for me when writing the book, because I’m just like, ‘Yeah, in real life, I think they can.’ I have two older brothers. I inherited a lot of their friends and will never be interested in that way. That’s kind of a foregone conclusion for me.

I feel like it’s almost more like, “Can dogs and cats be friends?” is the deal with Alex and Poppy, where you’re like, ‘These two people should not be in the same room,’ but it also works. I have so many friends who are in relationships like that, where one of them is really vibrant and loud and fun and playful, and the other one, you think, is this quiet — they can seem like a bore, and then you see the way that they bring different things out in each other. And for some reason it works.

HALEY: I agree. I think that, for its time, that was a great question that that film was asking. I don’t think we’re retreading that. I think that we are looking more at when you date yourself. I think both Alex and Poppy date themselves in this movie. They date mirror[s] of themselves. When you see them with each other, what sides do they bring out in one another? I think that’s the fun of this. Maybe the person you think you need is actually not what you need. Maybe you need something completely different from you, and that is maybe where the magic happens. That’s our question.

HENRY: I think it’s a fun thought experiment too, that if you already love someone that much before you’re in love with them, what do you do? Because people think, ‘Oh, it’s obvious you would just go for it.’ Like, this is your best friend. And now you’re saying that you also want to make out with them, cool. But in real life, it’s like, if you’ve had a friendship for that long, that’s basically family to you. There’s a real risk you could lose that person forever.

Growing up, I always fell in love with my friends, and I basically never made the decision to try to pursue anything, because I valued those friendships so much. It was a fun thought experiment for me to be like, ‘What happens if you try to cross that line and then uncross that line?’

DEADLINE: It makes me think of “Ruin the Friendship” by Taylor Swift, and you have “August” in the film. How did you land on the Paula Abdul song?

HALEY: The Paula Abdul song was just wanting a saxophone-heavy song that would really get under Alex’s skin, but that was also a banger, like a song that people have forgotten about, and I think people have forgotten about that song, and I think it is a certified banger. When I heard the sax in that I went ‘That’s it.’

HENRY: Yeah, I remember you were Googling and texting that you were trying.

HALEY: Sax songs.

HENRY: But it’s perfect thematically, too. It’s perfect

HALEY: “Forever Your Girl,” When we bring it back, that’s how I broke the dance scene. I was like, ‘I don’t know how to make them dance.’ And I figured out the scene. And then I went, ‘Oh, it’s “Forever Your Girl.”’ And that’s what made me go, ‘It all works now, amazing.’

RELATED: Emily Bader’s Poppy And Tom Blyth’s Alex Dance Between Friendship And More In Netflix’s ‘People We Meet On Vacation’ Trailer