The Tony Award-winning writers of ‘Two Strangers (Bring Cake Across New York),’ never lived in New York

Their lives changed in a New York minute.

The English childhood friends who wrote “Two Strangers (Take the Cake Across New York)” — nominated for eight Tony Awards — never lived in New York before writing a Broadway musical.

Kit Buchan and Jim Barne had only visited the Big Apple as tourists, so they relied heavily on films from the city to document the production.

“Our whole lives, we just absorbed this city so much and it felt familiar, even though most of what we digested was movies,” Buchan told The Post.

During the writing process of the show — which follows a British tourist enamored of New York City who meets a Brooklyn native who lacks his charms — the friends revisited NYC classics.

“We would work during the day and watch romcoms at night,” said Barne.

The two couldn’t even name all the films that influenced them when they wrote the show, which has Tony nominations including Best Musical and Best Book for their screenplay.

“But of course ‘Crossing Delancey,’ ‘When Harry Met Sally…,’ ‘Moonstruck,’ ‘Serendipity,’ and the first two in the ‘Before’ trilogy [‘Before Sunrise’ and ‘Before Sunset’],” said Buchan.

“There are also Christmas movies, like ‘Home Alone 2’ and ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ … And beyond that. [rom-com] kind of, apparently like every Spike Lee and [Martin] Scorsese films.”

The duo also made sure to address the fact that most New Yorkers don’t live or live in the tourist attractions these films are set in – in part because they can’t afford them.

“At some point you come to the realization that a lot of these movies are set in New York, they’re only set in one place in New York, which is a scene that’s really out of reach for a lot of people,” said Buchan.

“And certainly our female lead doesn’t live that way,” he added of their character, Robin, who lives in Flatbush and makes a living working at a coffee shop.

The real New Yorkers working on the show — which opened in London in 2023, and is coming to Broadway at the Longacre Theater in November — also helped the writers by pointing out fake lines.

“We had a traffic report that used the phrase ‘Brooklyn Queens Expressway.’ And there was a New Yorker who was working on the show, Michelle, who’s from Flatbush, and she was like, ‘Nobody’s ever said ‘Brooklyn Expressway,’” Buchan recalled.

“And that’s something you wouldn’t know, even if you’ve visited New York many times.”

One of the most laughed at quotes is “You’re from New York, so you have to go to the Statue of Liberty all the time.”

“You know, that’s never laughed at in London,” said Buchan. “Because they don’t understand.”

The duo showed two pinch-me moments when famous faces came to see the show.

“Susan Sarandon,” Buchan growled.

“I wasn’t even there, I was surprised, I couldn’t believe it was happening.”

“We just saw a report of the show and it’s like, ‘Oh, Lin-Manuel Miranda just came to see your show,'” Barne added.

“You know, you don’t get the biggest celebrities in the world coming to see music in London … That’s where it hits.”