THE new HBO Original series The Time Traveler’s Wife is a love story that extends beyond time, adapted by Steven Moffat from the bestselling novel by Audrey Niffenegger. Directed by David Nutter, the six-episode show tells the tale Clare and Henry’s marriage, which is complicated by time travel.
Henry DeTamble is played by Theo James, known for his role as Tobias Four Eaton in the Divergent films, and Rose Leslie – who portrayed Ygritte in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones – stars as Clare Abshire.
Nutter directed for HBO’s Game of Thrones and Moffat is best known for his work as writer of the science fiction television series Doctor Who and the contemporary crime drama television series Sherlock, which is based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic Sherlock Holmes stories.
The Time Traveler’s Wife is available for streaming on HBO GO now.
To get an in depth view of the show, we heard from the show’s main leads, Leslie and James, as well as scriptwriter Moffat and director Nutter during a recent press event.
What makes the television show so different compared to the movie?
Moffat: “The big advantage of the longer run of television is a matter of emphasis. By having by having a longer run, we can restore the emphasis of the book, which is more about Clare in a way, than Henry, cause it’s about the time traveler’s wife. It takes us about three episodes to absolutely nail down the rules of the time travel. That’s three hours before you’ve got that.”
Nutter: “The longer form also offers you a chance to establish the reality of the world and we wanted to treat this as real, as possible in a world that everyone could relate to that in some respects will make them more connected to the material.”
Do you think that romance films require a longer format to articulate the whole story?
Moffat: “The most interesting thing about a relationship is the length that endures. Most of the time, movies end at the altar or they start again when somebody dies or if there’s a divorce or an affair. What we rarely do is tell the big love story of how many decades you’re perfectly happy with each other. Now, Audrey gave us this device to mix all those years and decades and moments in the wrong order to remind us that love is inextricably linked to loss.”
Since the show is about love, relationships and marriage, what about the story stood out for you?
Leslie: “What stood out to me was how Clare reacted to the whole situation. Despite her extraordinary situation, she has never turned bitter or been full of self-pity despite the difficult wave she had to endure. Knowing that she’d commit herself to a life of uncertainty and the kind of acceptance that she began to feel is admirable.”
James: “For me, it’s the scene where older Henry meets younger Clare. The idea of a relationship, whether it’s a marriage or a long-term relationship, is about the evolution of both of you within the framework of being together. You might not be the same person and what I like about the show is the growth of a relationship over time.”
How did you guys recreate the roles of your characters meeting each other in different stages of life?
James: “The basis of the book and the show is about love out of time and about how you remember someone. That’s the poignancy of it. These people interact with different versions of themselves at different times, including Henry interacting with his own young self as an eight-year-old, almost like a younger brother, or even as a son, you know? It’s all a bit of a metaphor for the preciousness of memory and how we look back on ourselves and how we look back on the people that we love and how it forms the people we become.”
In the show, Henry becomes naked every time he time travels. How did it feel to be naked so often?
James: “For me, the nudity was such a key part of the story from the beginning. The conceit is that time travel is an ailment and it is something that he has to live with and live through. The rules are that he has a defective chromosome and he can only take his atoms with him.
“He’s not going to take his jumper or his bag, and so the idea is that he is very vulnerable. He has no clothes and no way of defending himself. No wallet, no food, no nothing. In the show, we created this idea that time travel is painful for him and it’s a massive exertion on his body. He is being depleted by it and so to me, the nudity was about danger really, and making it as dangerous as possible. It’s like a spectre, a dangerous shadow that’s forever looming over him and his impending death and we wanted to make that as real as possible.”
