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The Girl On The Train film: Everything you need to know

26 September 2016

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The Girl On The Train is the biggest movie release of 2016. If you've read the global best-selling book, written by Paula Hawkins, you'll be desperate to watch the characters come to life. And if you haven't read the book, you'll be intrigued to know about what all the fuss is about.

There is no doubt about it - this is Emily Blunt's biggest role to date, and she's joined by some mega stars; Luke Evans, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Rebecca Ferguson, Edgar Ramirez and former Friends star, Lisa Kudrow.

The Girl On The Train tells the story of a woman called Rachel who is obsessed with a couple that she sees on her daily commuter train when the train passes their house. One day she sees something truly shocking and then everything changes.

Find out who's playing which character, and why they moved the film from London to New York...

The book: The Girl On The Train
After its release in January 2015, The Girl On The Train became one of the fastest-selling novels in history, with more than 15 million copies sold globally. It hit the top spot of The New York Times Best Sellers List. In fact, it remained on
the list for more than a year, spending much of that time at number one.
Interestingly it wasn't the movie's success that led to a movie! Producer Marc Platt and DreamWorks acquired the rights to Hawkins’ debut thriller in 2014, prior to the novel’s publication.
“My colleague, Jared LeBoff, read a manuscript that was submitted and thought it was a great story,” recounts Marc. “He gave it to me, and I loved it. DreamWorks was reading it then as well, and they felt the same. We all got married together, bought the film rights and developed it.”
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Author: Paula Hawkins
Although former journalist Paula Hawkins had previously written several books as an author for hire, The Girl on the Train was the first novel released under her own name.
When we asked her at peak popularity, if her life had changed since the release of The Girl on the Train, she said: "I'm a lot busier than I was. But it's only been out for a few months so I'm still living the same sort of normal life. I still have to go to the supermarket and pick up my dry-cleaning, so I'm still the same."
Paula also recalled the first time she saw someone reading her book, she said: "I sat next to the woman who was reading it and I was scrutinising her face to see what she thought. She wasn't yawning so…"
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Director: Tate Taylor
To helm The Girl on the Train, Tate Taylor was the only choice. You'll know his work; he directed The Help and Get on Up.
He got involved in The Girl On The Train because he was drawn to these characters and also has had people in his life who have gone through addiction…and emerged on the other side.
Paula Hawkins added: “Tate is obviously a fantastic director, and his vision for the film is quite similar to my vision for the book. We talked about keeping the sort of paranoid, claustrophobic atmosphere, but the heart of the story is the same.”
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Location: America
While the novel is set in London, the filmmakers opted to set the thriller in and around Manhattan. “We thought in New York we could find the same kind of environment because New York is also a commuter city that’s parallel to London,” states Platt. “Setting
it in New York also allowed us to have a stronger relatability for our domestic audience, but it doesn’t change the dynamics of the story.”
Regardless, it's still the only thing that's annoyed fans of the book, with many people believing it should have stayed in London. Author Paula Hawkins is fine with it though, saying: "We’ve moved out to Westchester, and I actually love the look of it. It’s perfect.”
Much of the film was shot both on a real train and in a train car built on a stage in Westchester County, just north of Manhattan. It wasn’t difficult to look on edge for the cast, as they would often find themselves in sub-20-degree Fahrenheit weather.

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Playing Rachel: Emily Blunt
Everyone wanted to be the main character, Rachel Watson, and it became a much-sought-after part. When the dust settled, there was only one woman for the job: Emily Blunt.
“Emily has tremendous skill as an actor, and she was our first choice,” lauds Marc Platt, who had previously worked with her on the adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Into the Woods, which he produced.
“We felt that she not only had the skill required,
but in all of her characters, there’s something innately relatable. Rachel is very hard on herself, drinks heavily and is destructive in her behaviour. Emily has the ability to play all those colours and complexities and darkness but still remain likable,
understandable and accessible.”
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Blunt first became aware of the phenomenon that was The Girl on The Train through her sister, Felicity, who is a literary agent.
“She told me, 'This book is selling like quick fire.’ I’d go into any airport or bookstore and saw that it was the No. 1 bestseller. I could see people reading it on the subway and on airplanes. So I was aware of the tsunami of interest before I was approached by the producers. When they asked if I was interested in coming in, that’s when I read the book. And I read it in two days.”
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Talking about her character, she said: “She’s stretched me in ways that I haven’t been stretched before. I had to flex muscles I’ve never accessed. Trying to understand this addictive personality, that sense of being unable to put one foot in front of the other without relying on a drink, has been just an extraordinary experience.”
Emily was actually pregnant with her second child during the the shooting of the movie. "What no one knew was that I'd just found out I was pregnant with my second child, but I was determined not to let anyone think I was using that as an excuse," she said.
"Eventually, I had to tell the director, Tate Taylor, when we filmed a scene where I am in the bath, and I told him: 'You have to shoot it from behind.' When he asked why, I showed him my expanding tummy and said: 'Because of this.' By the time filming finished, I was 20 weeks gone!"
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Playing Tom: Justin Theroux
Justin Theroux plays Rachel's ex-husband, who has moved on, but still gets drawn in to his ex-wife's drama.
“In Justin, we found an actor who could keep you off guard,” notes the producer. “Maybe his darker inclinations were right on the edge, but you’re not sure. There’s also something so likeable about him.”
Justin Theroux was the first person Emily Blunt told about her pregnancy. In fact, he guessed! "And he only guessed because I was being a bit of a wuss about some of my scenes, which isn't like me at all," she said.

Regardless, Justin Theroux and Emily had the most fun on set when the cameras stopped rolling. The pair would create funny videos of one another giving terrible acting advice.
“Oh my god, that was my favourite thing to do, just to send terrible acting tips to her when she was at work,” he says. “She’s an old friend, so we had such a good time — like, a dangerously good time, to the point where we’re like, ‘We should probably just be a little more serious about this. But the material is so grim that we had to find time to laugh in between takes.”
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Playing Anna: Rebecca Ferguson
To play the part of Anna, Rachel’s ex-husband’s new wife, the team cast Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson, who starred alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation. “Rebecca is a lovely actress who is coming into her own,” says Platt. “The camera loves her.”
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Even Emily Blunt was a fan, saying: “Rebecca has the most beautiful, expressive face, and she’s able to reveal so much with so little. I’m thrilled she was cast as Anna because that could easily have been a derivative part — the new blonde wife in a cashmere sweater who’s the perfect mother. Rebecca brought a lot of the struggle of that life of being a stay-at-home mom.”
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Playing Megan: Haley Bennett
For the role of Megan, the woman Rachel becomes obsessed with, the filmmakers cast Haley Bennett, who is known for her roles in Music and Lyrics and The Equalizer.
The performer describes her character as living much less a perfect life than Rachel imagines. “Megan is in a very unhappy marriage, and she’s living in the suburbs as a social outcast,”
Bennett says. “She’s lonely and becomes restless and reckless. I felt that there’s a little part of each of Megan, Rachel and Anna in all of us.”

Haley Bennett admits she gets compared to Jennifer Lawrence A LOT!
She told GQ: "Everyone thinks I'm Jennifer Lawrence! It's hilarious." She is yet to meet the Oscar winner but reckons they wouldn't look the same if they were stood side-by-side: "I imagine that if we were to stand next to each other we would look absolutely nothing alike, but somehow people just connect us."
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Yeah, we can't see it. Not one little bit.
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Playing Scott: Luke Evans
For the role of Scott, Megan’s husband and the second object of Rachel’s obsession, the filmmakers cast Luke Evans, who is known for roles in The Hobbit series, as well as the Fast & Furious franchise.
“Luke is an everyday guy, and yet there’s an edge to him,” says Platt, who felt the Welsh performer’s versatility on screen made him the perfect choice for the character.
“Audiences don’t know if Scott is good, or if he has a bad temper and is impulsive. As an audience member, I’m not sure who’s telling me the truth, who’s too far on the edge, and who’s capable of very heinous acts.”
Emily Blunt kept her pregnancy fairly quiet on the set of the movie, but decided to tell a few people. She chose a very interesting moment in which to tell Luke Evans. He said: "There's a little bit of a kerfuffle and just before Emily leans into me and whispers, 'I'm four months pregnant'."
"She decided to tell me at that moment. I was one of the first people to find out. But she had to tell me, I was about to throw her around the room, I was like, 'Cheers Em!'"

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Playing Dr. Kamal Abdic: Edgar Ramirez
To play Dr. Abdic, the filmmakers cast Edgar Ramirez, known for his roles in such films as Zero Dark Thirty, Joy and Hands of Stone.
“Edgar is a compelling actor,” Platt says. “With his language, but also in the silences. He’s perfect as a psychiatrist who
is very probing, but also is a man subject to emotion and need.”
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Cathy the room mate: Laura Prepon
Orange Is the New Black’s Laura Prepon was selected to portray Cathy, an old friend who took Rachel into her home after her divorce, but who is nearing the end of her rope as the drinking worsens. “You quickly see the history between these two women, and you get that Cathy has wisdom to her,” says Prepon.
“I’ve thought she has a sponsor role, because there’s no other reason to justify why she takes care of Rachel so much.”
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Playing Monica: Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Kudrow plays Martha, a friend from Rachel's old life, back when she was married to Tom.
Fans of Friends will be interested to know that Lisa's character is called Monica (I KNOW!), a former co-worker of the ex-husband, who is being played by Justin Theroux. (And Theroux in real life is married to Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel on Friends!) Crazy, eh?
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Playing Detective Riley: Allison Janney
To play the role of Detective Riley, Taylor selected Emmy Award winner Allison Janney, whom he has cast in every one of his films. “Riley has a thing about people who abuse alcohol,” says Janney. “She doesn’t like them and can’t tolerate them. She believes
Rachel committed murder.”
It’s not a coincidence that the actress and director have worked together so often. “Tate’s an extraordinary storyteller,” commends Janney. “I want more Tate Taylors, and more directors who appreciate women and their power in film, and who tell stories that are relatable to the people that will buy tickets. What I was most excited about, reading Paula’s book, was what a great story this was about these women.”

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Playing the 'man in the suit': Darren Goldstein
This is a very crucial role in the book, so many people were intrigued as to who would play the 'man in the suit'. This apparently judgmental man in a suit is played by The Affair’s Darren Goldstein.