Netflix Casts 'This is Going To Hurt's Ambika Mod in 'One Day'

Netflix U.K.'s newest series will take on David Nicholl's hit novel, One Day. The 2009 romance, in which each chapter covers the same date in consecutive years over a twenty-year span, traces the romance between Dexter and Emma, who first hooked up in 1988. Over the next twenty years ending in 2008, readers get a yearly check-in to see where the two are in their slowly evolving romance. The two struggle with mistimed opportunities to turn their friendship into something more for years until they finally wind up together, only for it to end once and for all.

The series will follow the same structure, with each episode covering July 15th (St Swithin's Day), over twenty years. However, as the series is almost certainly not 20 episodes, it will probably condense down a bit. This is Going to Hurt's breakout lead, Ambika Mod will take on the role of Emma Morley, who first meets Dexter the summer after the two have just graduated from the University of Edinburgh. The White Lotus' Leo Woodall will play Dexter Mayhew. This is the second adaptation of the novel to be attempted — a very condensed movie adaptation was released in 2011 by Focus Features, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess in the lead roles.

The Nicholls project, which is being done in conjunction with Focus Features, as it still maintains the rights, was initially commissioned back in November 2021 as part of a slew of new titles for the U.K. arm of Netflix's international productions. Of the five, it is the only romantic drama to have been greenlit. The other four include a 1980s-set mystery thriller Eric, a superhero comedy, Supacell, the Greek myth-inspired series, Kaos, and a YA-focused teen dramedy, The F— It Bucket, about an anorexic teenager working down the list of things to do before they die.