Author of Rivals told writers to stop making her 'macho men' cry

Author of Rivals told writers to stop making her 'macho men' cry6 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleAngharad ThomasBBC Wales Dave Benett/Getty ImagesDame Jilly Cooper reached a whole new audience when her novel Rivals was turned into a hit Disney+ TV seriesNovelist Dame Jilly Cooper scolded the team behind Rivals and told them to stop making her "macho men" cry on screen, an executive producer on the show has said.Dame Jilly was best known for writing The Rutshire Chronicles, which portrayed the scandals, sex lives and social circles of the wealthy, countryside, horse-loving elite.Her widely popular second book Rivals, in the 11-novel series, was published in 1988 and reached a whole new audience when it was turned into a hit Disney+ TV series in 2024. Writer and executive producer of the show Laura Wade said Dame Jilly was like a ray of "human sunshine", but had one memorable piece of criticism of the show.Speaking at Hay Festival, Wade said: "We were so lucky to have Jilly… You would expect someone to be quite strict about what you do with their key characters, and she really wasn't."She would tell us, if I was making Rupert (Campbell-Black) cry too often, that was one of her favourites – 'stop making my macho men cry all the time'."Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty ImagesDame Jilly Cooper and Rivals star Alex Hassell, who plays Rupert Campbell-BlackDame Jilly, who was an English author and journalist, died unexpectedly last October, aged 88, after suffering injuries from a fall at home.At the time of her death, Queen Camilla led the tributes, describing her as a legend and a "wonderfully witty and compassionate friend". The Queen added: "May her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs."Getty ImagesDame Jilly sold more than 11 million books in the UK During the panel discussion at Hay Festival, Victoria Smurfit, who plays Maud O'Hara in Rivals, re...