The Girl on the Train was the first novel released under author Paula Hawkins’ own name. When it was published in January 2015, Hawkins’ story became one of the fastest-selling novels in history, with more than 15 million copies sold globally. In its first week, The Girl on the Train landed at the top of The New York Times Best Sellers List, and remained on the list for more than a year, spending much of that time at No. 1.
The inspiration for the novel was inspired by Hawkins’ daily experiences on the commuter rail through London. “There was one particular route where the train was always breaking down, and I would sit and look into these apartment blocks, and you could see right into someone’s living room,” she recounts. “I was always hoping I’d see something interesting, although I never did. But it started my imagination going, and that’s where the germ of the story came from.”
Producer Marc Platt tells why he knew Hawkins’ novel would be perfect material for a filmic adaptation: “It had genre elements of a thriller, and yet it felt contemporary, full of interesting, flawed characters. We’re all a bit voyeuristic, so the notion of riding a train every day and being one of the people in the crowd, and observing a life — and then all of sudden seeing something wrong in that view — is very Hitchcockian, very Rear Window, which is a great hook.”
In the screenplay, a key change was made in setting the story in New York, rather than the novel’s London. The film uses the Metro-North commuter rail line, which runs to Westchester County from the city, passing through Harlem and the Bronx before hugging the Hudson River.
“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.” However, the most important audience member to satisfy was the story’s creator. Hawkins, who says that the universal themes of voyeurism and loneliness, addiction and passion in “The Girl on the Train” allow for the story to take place in any city with a mass transit system, blessed the relocation. “We’ve moved out to Westchester, and I actually love the look of it,” she says. “It’s perfect.”
The Girl on the Train is available On Demand beginning Jan. 17. Check your cable system for availability.
