Eve Hewson: The "Behind Her Eyes" star on learning an English accent in two weeks — and on THAT ending!

Eve Hewson in Behind Her Eyes
Eve Hewson wields a knife and sports a black eye as she plays Adele in "Behind Her Eyes" on Netflix. (Image credit: Netflix)

Eve Hewson can't wait for viewers to see Netflix's new psychological thriller, Behind Her Eyes, and she thinks the final twist will blow people's minds! 

Sarah Pinborough's bestselling novel caused a stir when it hit the shelves back in 2017, so we're pretty excited about this upcoming adaptation, which is due to hit the streaming service on 17 February. 

The six-part series stars Eve Hewson (star of The Knick and daughter of U2 rock legend Bono) and Tom Bateman (Vanity Fair) as married couple, David and Adele, who are hiding some terrible secrets, yet the tale is told through the eyes of single mum Louise (Simona Brown, The Night Manager).

Louise's world is turned upside down when she falls in love with her new boss, David, and at first the handsome psychiatrist seems to be the man of her dreams. 

But by chance Louise then strikes up friendship with his wife, Adele, and finds herself falling further into the couple’s web of deceit. Soon she begins wondering if David is really the man she thought he was, whether Adele is as sweet as she seems and what dark past they’re hiding!

We caught up with Irish star Eve to talk about the series — and what she made of that ending.

Eve Hewson on playing Adele ...

After moving to London with her husband, David, Adele doesn't know anyone and is delighted to make a friend when she bumps into Louise.

"At the beginning of the series Adele and David have a difficult and very complex relationship," says Eve. "David has his job, his work life, but she’s a housewife and David is very controlling, so she’s not really allowed to go outside or talk to people. When she bumps into Louise I think it’s sort of exciting and making a friend and having a girlfriend to go and get coffee with or go to the gym with. She’s really attracted to Louise and wants to get close to her." 

Eve Hewson on playing those tense marital scenes ... 

"I had a really fun time playing this character, which is probably a bit disturbing. But it came so easily to me, I don’t know why!" explains Eve. 

"Tom and I genuinely had a great time on set and the tone of it is generally quite camp and theatrical, so there was a lot to experiment with. Eric Richter Strand (the show's director) was really into us trying more off-beat choices and if we’ve had someone different he might have been afraid to take those choices. Trying new things is not what actors get to do a lot of the time, because often directors want you to play it safe, which is a bit boring!" 

Adele (Eve Hewson), her husband David (Tom Bateman) and Louise (Simona Brown) in "Behind Her Eyes" on Netflix.

Adele (Eve Hewson), her husband David (Tom Bateman) and Louise (Simona Brown) form a dark love triangle  (Image credit: Netflix)

Eve Hewson on THAT ending ... 

Eve was cast with only two weeks left before production on the series began, so she didn't get a chance to enjoy the book as she would have like to! 

"I found out about the final twist over the phone with the director, so I didn’t get the journey that everyone else did," laughs the Irish star. "I’d just about read the scripts when they told me I had to do an English accent, which was a bit of a shock. I had two weeks to put something together and I ended up reading the book out loud in my terrible English accent, trying to get into it, so that was how I read it!" 

Eve Hewson on learning an English accent ...

"My agent is going to kill me for saying this, but he basically lied to the producers and said that I could do an English accent!" she says. 

"I knew this amazing dialect coach William Connacher, who worked on The Crown, and if there was anyone who could get my accent right in two weeks — it was him. We basically just locked ourselves in a room in the production offices for two weeks and went through the whole thing and then I kind of winged it. I might get crucified for it, but there’s no looking back!"

Behind her eyes premieres on Netflix on Wednesday, Feb. 17.

Sean Marland

Sean is a Senior Feature writer for TV Times, What's On TV and TV & Satellite Week, who also writes for whattowatch.com. He's been covering the world of TV for over 15 years and in that time he's been lucky enough to interview stars like Ian McKellen, Tom Hardy and Kate Winslet. His favourite shows are I'm Alan Partridge, The Wire, People Just Do Nothing and Succession and in his spare time he enjoys drinking tea, doing crosswords and watching football.