People Who Knew Me - 1. Hello LA

Episode Date: May 30, 2023

New episodes released on Tuesday and Thursday. If you’re in the UK, listen first on BBC Sounds. Connie Prynne lives a small life with her daughter, Claire in Los Angeles. But when she is diagnosed with breast cancer she is forced to start addressing her past, a life she hasn’t told Claire or anyone about, a New York life, Emily’s life; a mess of a failed marriage, an affair and an accidental pregnancy that saw Emily fake her death post 9/11 and runaway to LA. If the breast cancer gets worse she needs to create a safe world for Claire, but how honest does she need to be with her daughter? We follow Connie as in the present she grapples with cancer treatment, her role as a mother and relationship with Claire. But she also leads us back through her memories of being Emily and tries to make sense of the past she’s tried so hard to forget and move on from. But with the threat of her own death, she has to find answers from her first death. Will the mistakes of her past derail or save Connie’s present? Credits Connie / Emily - ROSAMUND PIKE Drew - KYLE SOLLER Claire - ISABELLA SERMON Gabe - ALFRED ENOCH Jade - JESSICA DARROW Marni/Jenny - DANIELLA ISAACS Dr Richter / Reporter - CHARLES HAGERTY and HUGH LAURIE as PAUL Additional voices: PIPPA WINSLOW, NANCY CRANE, JOEY AKUBEZE, BARNEY WHITE, JILL WINTERNITZ Written and Directed by Daniella Isaacs Adapted from the original novel and Consulting Produced by Kim Hooper Produced by Joshua Buckingham Executive Produced by Faye Dorn, Clelia Mountford, Sharon Horgan, Kira Carstensen, Seicha Turnbull and Brenna Rae Eckerson Executive Producer for eOne Jacqueline Sacerio Co-Executive Produced by Carey Burch Nelson Executive Producer for BBC Dylan Haskins Assistant Commissioner for the BBC Lorraine Okuefuna Additional Commissioning support for the BBC Natasha Johansson and Harry Robinson Production Executive Gareth Coulam Evans Production Manager Sarah Lawson Casting Director Lauren Evans Audio Production & Post-Production by SoundNode Supervising Dialogue Recordist & Editor Daniel Jaramillo Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Design & Mix: Martin Schulz Music composed by Max Perryment Additional Dialogue Recording: David Crane, Martin Jilek Assistant Dialogue Recordists: Jack Cook, Giancarlo Granata Additional Dialogue Editing: Marco Toca Head of Production Rebecca Kerley Production Accountant Lianna Meering Finance Director Jackie Sidey Legal and Business Affairs Mark Rogers at Media Wizards Dialect Coach for Rosamund Pike - Carla Meyer Read in Hannah Moorish Artwork: Mirjami Qin Artwork Photographer by Sibel Ameti Additional thanks to: Emily Peska, Caitlin Stegemoller, Sam Woolf, Charly Clive, Ellie White, Ellen Robertson, Kate Phillips, Ed Davis, Ciaràn Owens, Jonathan Schey, Daniel Raggett and Charlotte Ritchie.

You're about to listen to the first episode of People Who Numi. New episodes will be released twice a week wherever you get your podcasts. If you're in the UK, you can listen before anywhere else, first, on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. This episode contains themes and strong language, which some listeners may find upsetting. All events are dramatized. Do we need to know what to do? There's the tape. You see the plane flying in, it's on the east side of the building, and it goes into

the building with the smoke and the flames and a swelling, pouring out the other side, give it a side of the tower. I mean, there's a fire on our floor. There's a fire on our floor. A huge explosion, now going to breathe on all of us, we better get out of the way! People who know me think I'm dead. There. I said it.

I said it. Sorry, I should do this properly. Dear Emily. Emmy. It's September the something 2015. It's been 14 years, almost to the day. Happy death anniversary. Fuck.

I had to write. I might be dying, you see. I don't really have anyone else to talk to. So, I guess it's just you and me, Emily. Look at you. And, well, you know, absolutely nothing about me. So, well, I'm Connie Prin. I was born on August 25th, 1974.

I'm 41, so, yes, I did shave off two years for my own amusement. I live in Tarzana, Los Angeles, the shitty part, and I have one beautiful daughter called Claire. You'll be pleased about that, I'm sure. She is 13 and she's kind and open-hearted and honest, and she's got me as close as I can get to feeling whole. And she knows absolutely nothing about you, Amy. Lucky her, and I know every single tiny little detail

about you. Black to sweeteners. Amy, never am. Yeah, like that. Yeah, oh God. I remember every secret, every lie. I know all about your husband, Drew, your failed marriage. I remember everything about Gabe, your secret Gabe, who hated and called that.

And I remember every second of the day he died. Emme, I also remember how much of a coward you are. How you used a terrorist attack, a national tragedy, to run away from your mess and fake your own death. I remember it all. Emme, I'm the only one who knows the truth. God, I can imagine the face you're pulling right now.

Me, writing to you, they call it journaling out here. I'm picturing you, lying on your stained sofa in your shitty, moths eaten hoodie judging who I've become. A sugar-free, crystal-owning, LA-goop supermom. Nah, I'm too poor for that, I swear. The point is, I might be dying. It's lucky me. So, yeah, I had to write.

I had a mammogram on Friday squishing my breasts in between two metal plates like some modern art installation, the cancer sandwich. I'm slightly concerned about the thickening of the tissue in the right breast. The mammogram led me to Dr. Ferguson thickening. With the red appearance, your doctor noted there is a chance we might be dealing with. We, Emmy. Ferguson spoke about my breasts like he had some share of ownership. Well, because the cancer blocks the lymph nose. You get what's coming. He sent me for a core biopsy. 17 historical women sitting in lines in the waiting room anxiously questioning their fate.

Not me. I'm too distracted. Too consumed by. I mean, we're calling the cush. Call. You. You're a disappearing act. Your husband you left behind.

Drew. Gabe. Oh, man. I tried to distract myself. and you left behind. Drew, Gabe, Oven. I tried to distract myself. I play a game, staring at all the anxious women's racks. Ugh, gross. Buzzams, breasts, God. Can someone come up with a better word?

Gambling on which ones are full of cancer and which ones are lucky. I lower my gaze before I get called out for purving. You get louder. I call your mom, Gene, who is there. September 11, Drew called. Say that he can't get through. I am watching the news. At 8. Please call me.

At 8. I love you so much, I love you. Emily, before my hot breast got in the way, I hadn't thought about you too much. Emily? Once or twice, people have mistaken me for you. And then, yes, you do consume me for approximately 24 hours. Like in 2009, Claire was seven and freakishly perfect.

When you have kids, filling time is an endless pursuit. I chose some overpriced craft fair into Pangakini. Emily Morris. I had my back to her. She put her hand on my shoulder. If Claire wasn't there, I would have pretended I was deaf. Emily, it's Jade. Jade Davis.

God. I looked blank. Claire looked up at me. I know. Fuck! Am I that forgettable? I was your boss. At Mathers and James, you worked on Angel Smooth,

the toilet paper, and you were like, I shook my head. Sorry. Really? Shook my heart. Oh. How incredible. I'm good at faces.

And Oras, I remember faces. And Oras. Eh, sorry. Sorry. His friend? Bonnie, friend? The nurse comes to collect me. Yep. Thankfully to her, I'm just another name on another list. Just a check.

Did you drive today? Yes. Who else would drive me? No. Good. You might be slightly hazy afterwards. You put the clothes in the locker, remove any jewelry. There's a padlock here to keep it safe.

How bleak. Get robbed and get cancer in one sunny afternoon. Well, we'll be doing an open breast biopsy today. We're going to start with the sedative, which will help you sleep for about 10 minutes. Give me more. Counting back from 10, 9, 8... 8 days after 9-11. Emma, come with me. Please, try.

You were rotting away in Gabe's apartment. Remember it. 9-05 on September 19, 2001. You called him for the last time. Gabe, it's me again. Eight days now. I just wanted to say this is the last time I'm calling. I've been trying to work out how to get your NYU sweater not to lose your smell.

Yeah, who says distort in an airtight top-aware, but not a top aware guy. Are you? Why the fuck did you leave me sleeping? Sorry, I just... Well, I wanted to tell you this on Tuesday. Pitta. I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant. Yeah, I wanted to know if you wanted to have a baby. Because, well, it's happening.

I think it'll be just like you. A sweet and soft and kind as you. With a smile just like yours. Apparently, it's the size of a poppy seed right now, according to Yahoo. Yahoo also said that all sense fade naturally over times. Yeah, I smashed up this grid. And now it doesn't work.

Sorry. I love you. Yeah, that's it. That's it I love you. Yeah, that's it. That's it. Love you. You stood in his little pantry, scavenging for every car left behind. You couldn't go back to Drew and pretend everything was normal.

If you couldn't read the grief on your face now, he'd work it out in nine months' time. Realize he was married to a pathological liar who is in love with someone else. Your world had stopped calling. They must have. You have no new messages. Decision made. Dead.

You grab Gabe's jim bag. It still smelled of him. Pack two pairs of underwear. The sneakers you'd left there, his overpriced toiletries, and you stole all the money in his safe, which he left wide open. $4,980. You bleached every surface, washed every dish, chucked any evidence of yourself into a black bag, and then flung it out into the industrial dumpster on the street.

You picked up your cell phone, ripped out the sim, threw it down the garbage disposal. You picked up De Bove Wars of very very easy death. Pretentious, Derek. And walked towards the door. You slid the keys through the mailbox. No other reason than you didn't want to be tempted to come back. You walked. No. Pounded.

You smiled at survivors. Hi. All of them walking with the trauma of the past week heavy on their shoulders. Went into the drugstore. Bought some bleach. Hair scissors. Applied the bleach.

Rinse it off. Cut it. You hailed a cap. Where are two, man? Newer care, poor police. The biopsy meant Dr. Ferguson sent me Do you work airport please? The biopsy meant Dr. Ferguson sent me to Dr. Richter. Hi, Connie. I'm Dr. Richter.

Hi. When he told me, he was smiling. Unfortunately, there is cancer. You know, the most annoying part of that sentence was not the cancer. It was the ugh of it. Why would you say a cancer? A cancer? It's more diagnostics, MRI, CT, a full pathology. The most people cry when you tell them.

It depends, but on the whole, yes, I stop bringing out. I love you, Hedgehog. I have a cry since. Sorry, since I Since? Sorry. Since I had my daughter. You have one child, is that right? Yes, Claire. She's 13. And do you have a partner?

No. A strong support network? I'll be fine. Now's the time to lean on your loved ones, Miss Bren. Shoot me now, then. Sorry, I just, there's not that much I can do with that information. But well, there's support groups. There's counseling.

Oh, my God, I die. I'll do everything I can to prevent that from happening. These doctors, they talk like politicians. MMO to Dr. Ferguson. I saw Miss Bren today, a 41-year-old single mother of one. We will start her on an IV chemotherapy combination of Adrian Mison and Cetoxin. It sounded like he was trying to kill a rat.

I look forward to remediating with Miss Print in three weeks' time to resist our plan. Vibes wishes. Vibes? Sorry, but this guy's a terrorist. Dr. Charles Richter. Thank you, Charles. Dr. Charles, for Dr. Richter.

I looked up IBC as soon as I got in the car. It's one of the bad ones. Emily, our life out here is tiny. It's just me and Claire. We're in Ireland. We have no friends, no family, no lovers. And right now she thinks her dad was Elliot Hampson, the tragic victim of a car accident. My family tree is made up of single mothers.

That's made me ambitious and strong. And... Fuck me. I thought I'd never have to think of you again. I thought I'd never have to face you. But the one thing I never considered was my own death. Emily, ignoring you can hurt me. And fuck it.

If I'm gonna get really goopy about this, ignoring you might even have made me sick. But the one thing I'm not willing to do is let ignoring you harm Claire. So if I'm dying, then I need to tell her about you and who you left behind. I can't leave her on her own. Question is, and you know this one very well.

How truthful do I need to be? A single to you Los Angeles will be $698 in such an instant. Can I have your name, please? Emily Morris. Sorry, I can't hear you. Emily. Morris. That was the last time I said your name out loud. Emily. It's been 14 years. Fuck. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So will you help me as I wade through our mess and our lies and our deaths? Will you hold my hand when I tell my daughter, her mother is a fully blown psychopath. Please, Amy, everyone who knows you thinks you are dead. What the fuck? The best, Connie. X.

People who knew me, starring Rosamond Pike, Kyle Sawler, Isabella Sermon, Alfred Inoc, Jessica Darrow, Charles Haggerty, Daniela Isaacs and Hulari. Other voices, Kippa Winslow, Nancy Crain, Joseph Ackabase, Barney White, Jill Winternitz. Written and directed by Daniela Isaacs. Adapted from the original novel by Kim Hooper. Producer Joshua Buckingham. Executive producers, Faye Doran, Cleelya Mountford, and Sharon Horgan. Executive producer for the BBC, Dylan Haskins, production manager,

Sarah Lawson, casting director, Lauren Evans, supervising dialogue record as an editor, Daniel Haramizzo, supervising sound editor, sound design and mix, Martin Schultz,

sound design and recording, by sound node, music composed Martin Schultz. Sound design and recording by SoundNote. Music composed by Max Perryman. If you've been affected by anything you've heard in this episode, details of help and support in the UK are available at bbc.co.uk forward slash action line. People who knew me, listen first on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds. Seven years ago, I was filming East London Mosque when the story broke. The three schoolgirls from the area had gone missing. They were heading to Syria to join the Islamic State Group.

Breaking news this morning, three British schoolgirls are reportedly missing. Shemur Begum was the only one of the girls to emerge from the ashes of the so-called caliphate. I've retraced her steps from the UK through Turkey and into Syria to find people who knew her and to investigate the truth of her story. What do you think people think of you? As a danger, as a risk, as a potential risk. The Shemima Begum story, series two, of I'm Not A Monster. Listen on BBC Sounds. risk as a potential risk. the softest materials and comfort innovations. They do good because for every item you purchase, we donate another item to someone who needs it.

So far, we at Bombas have donated over 100 million items and your purchases add to that impact. Go to bombas.com slash Acast and use code Acast for 20% off your first purchase. That's bombas.com slash Acast and use code Acast at checkout. your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash A-CAST and use code A-CAST at checkout.