Exclusive Interview
Omid Scobie & Robin Benway Spill on ‘Royal Spin’ Adaptation Status & More (VIDEO)
What To Know
- Omid Scobie and Robin Benway’s new novel, Royal Spin, follows new Buckingham Palace PR employee Lauren Morgan.
- The book has already been picked up for a TV adaptation.
- The duo shared updates on their adaptation and more in their interview with Swooon.
[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Royal Spin by Omid Scobie and Robin Benway.]
While Omid Scobie and Robin Benway come from completely different literary backgrounds, their new novel, Royal Spin, proves that they are a match made in coauthor heaven.
Royal Spin follows Lauren Morgan, an American PR expert who gets a job at Buckingham Palace, taking viewers behind the scenes on a centuries-long operation that nobody gets to see, and introducing not one, but two worthy suitors along the way. Throughout the novel, Lauren captured our hearts while giving us a window into some incredibly juicy scandals that royalty buffs and novices alike will love.
Following the release of their brilliant royal rom-com, Omid Scobie and Robin Benway sat down with Swooon to discuss Lauren’s journey, working together as first-time fiction coauthors, and the status of the upcoming Royal Spin adaptation.
According to Scobie, “The show was picked up for development after writing just 60 pages together… We didn’t even know the ending at this point.” Now, Scobie is working with the Royal Spin showrunner, Emily Fox, on the script. He explained, “It’s also nice to be able to bring to life some of the moments that didn’t work on the page that will be great one-minute gags on the screen.”
Of course, a book-to-screen adaptation does not come without its challenges. For that reason, Scobie revealed that Lauren’s story might look a little different from what it does in the book when it makes its way to the screen. “With a show, you kind of have to sell the journey in the first few minutes, so I think kind of top-loading a pilot episode with stuff that doesn’t come until much later in the book — it’s just being able to figure out how to grab someone and tell someone how great this journey is going to be.”
When it comes to the moments they’re most excited to see on the screen, Scobie and Benway each gravitated towards one of Lauren’s suitors. Benway pointed towards Jasper, the Duke of Exeter’s first appearance, when he breaks into Lauren’s office. On the other hand, Scobie looks forward to seeing the first lunch between Lauren and Oscar, the journalist, when he finally convinces her to spend time with him outside of the palace.
While Scobie and Benway couldn’t give us any casting updates yet, the duo did share that they pictured their main trio while writing the book. As they mentioned in the book, Jasper definitely gives Hemsworth brother. At the same time, in the book, Oscar looks like a younger Henry Golding. Scobie did admit, “I always say that if this was being done 10-15 years ago, that Anne Hathaway would be the dream Lauren.”
Check out our full interview with Omid Scobie and Robin Benway above!
Royal Spin by Omid Scobie and Robin Benway is out now.
