Adapted by Steven Moffat (Sherlock, Doctor Who) from the novel by Audrey Niffenegger and directed by David Nutter (Game of Thrones), the HBO drama series The Time Traveler’s Wife tells the out-of-order love story between Clare (Rose Leslie) and Henry (Theo James), as their relationship spans time in inexplicable ways. Henry meets Clare when she’s 6, and while he’s a time traveler who knows that they’ll eventually be married, she doesn’t initially feel as warmly about that fact as he does, having her own triumphs and tragedies until she comes to realize what they mean to each other.
During this interview with Collider, co-stars Leslie and James talked about what most deeply spoke to them with this story, imbuing this adaptation with a darkness and danger, what it was like for Leslie to find the emotional levels of someone who loves a time traveler, why it was important to James to show how painful Henry’s affliction is for him, the emotional moment that Clare and Henry share in Episode 2, and their hope that they’ll get to continue telling this love story.
Collider: There are so many interesting elements to this project, from time travel to the love story to the different ages of these characters, and all of it is presented in a way that’s different from what we’re used to. What was it about this that most deeply spoke to you? Was there an aspect that you were most excited about exploring, or that you felt most deeply connected to?
ROSE LESLIE: For me, it was the realization that this is a character whereby something utterly extraordinary has happened to her, and she finds herself as one half of a time-traveling couple. That, in and of itself, is highly interesting. The brilliance of Steven [Moffat]’s adaptation, and how it’s peppered with comedy and there are farcical elements throughout, and then just as a character, Clare is wonderfully complex, in and of herself was, was a massive draw for me.
THEO JAMES: Reading the pilot, back when we first auditioned for it, is what reignited it for me. I remember it coming through on an email and seeing The Time Traveler’s Wife, which I read as a young person and loved it, and I saw Steve, I saw David [Nutter] and I saw HBO, then I thought, “Okay, yeah, this is really interesting.” And then, I read the script, and what Steven did with it – and I haven’t seen the film, but I’ve heard great things – was imbue his adaptation with the emotion, but there’s also a darkness simmering there, there’s a danger, and there’s hard comedy. There was something that I felt, when I first read the book years ago, as a 20-year-old, that I loved about it and I couldn’t wait to find that in this new derivation of it.
Rose, because your character is the one that’s not time traveling – she is half of this couple, but she’s not the one physically leaving – what was it like to explore all of those emotions at once? How did you calibrate and find what those emotions were, every time this person was coming and going throughout her life?
LESLIE: Clare actually speaks about it, but I feel like there must be a constant hum of anxiety and dread, every time that he leaves. I feel that’s why she obviously is a sculptor, using her hands and actually getting rid of this pent-up energy that must constantly fill her, every single time that he’s time traveled, and using that as a cathartic way to release the stress and the angst. For her, I think that’s where a lot of the emotion goes. For me, trying to portray that, there’s a whole combination of relief, when Henry does time travel back into their home, and he survived, and he’s okay, but I wanted to also balance that with the realization that this happens on the regular. As a result, there becomes not just a formality, but there’s a way that it is normalized for them, and I wanted to show that. I also wanted to recognize that, just as a decent person, she wouldn’t always want to show her relief, every time that he’s back, because that would just be highly unfair.
One of the issues with time travel is that Henry shows up wherever and whenever he goes, completely naked. And it’s not just that he’s naked, but he’s literally flung around everywhere and tends to seem to always hit a hard floor or the ground. Theo, what was it like to have to constantly do that, physically? Were there ever times that you almost accidentally hurt something?
JAMES: Yeah, but I always wanted to make it more painful, or not more painful, but I wanted his landing to be uncomfortable every time, both for him as the character and for the audience. I really wanted to impress on the story that this is not great. This is not a fun, romantic affliction. This is a serious illness that he has, and when it throws him out of time, it’s painful for him. It’s depleting for him. It’s exhausting for him. So, I hit myself off a lot of objects, but in a way, I didn’t mind. I wanted to feel that, to make it feel as real as possible and to not make it feel light, in any way, if that makes sense.
For me, one of the most powerful, most moving, and most heartbreaking moments in this is in Episode 2, when Clare gets to meet Henry’s mother, even though she’s already dead. That was just so beautifully done. What was that moment like to read and to shoot, especially since it wasn’t all there in front of you, and you’re not seeing the flashbacks of her, in that moment. What was it like to actually work all that out, and then see how it all plays together?
JAMES: It was tricky. Rose and I talked to David about that. You read the scene the way it’s constructed, and it’s beautiful, but as actors, before doing it, we were worried that we were just going to be sitting there listening to tiny excerpts of a tape and wondered whether it was gonna be extremely boring. But actually, when we came to do it, we could hear Kate [Siegel]’s voice through the tape recorder. They played it for us, which made it quite poignant and emotional. There’s the point where Henry’s mother is explaining to the audience, “I got this message and I’m not sure who it’s from, but I’ll try to answer the question,” and then she directs it to Clare. She says, “Hello, Clare,” and I found that really emotional. It was a really good emotional marker for me. I found it deeply sad, actually. I still find it sad because she’s dead. That sounds obvious to say, but she’s literally speaking to someone from beyond the grave.
Clearly, you guys have not finished telling this story in the first season. There’s obviously more story to be told. Have you had conversations about exploring more of this story? Do you want to continue telling this love story?
JAMES: Yeah.
LESLIE: Yeah, I certainly do want to continue. There’s obviously so much more ground to cover for them, and I hope we do get to come back. But that’s not a decision that lies with us, sadly.
JAMES: We’d obviously love to finish their story. There’s so much more to tell, as Rose said. But also, there’s a limit on it. It’s not a story that can be told over eight seasons because of the nature of the love story and because of its ending, which is great, in a way. We would love to hang out and explore more of these characters, but it also will have its own natural ending, if we even get a chance to do it again, which we hope very much that we do.
The Time Traveler’s Wife airs on Sunday nights on HBO.