The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Mae Whitman plays supporting character Mary Elizabeth in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and when I visited the set of the movie last Summer, I chatted with her along with a few other reporters. Whitman talked about what she likes so much about her alternative-culture-loving character, who runs a fanzine — which led Whitman to talk about her own personal pop culture obsession: Harry Potter. Since she stars in Perks with Harry Potter franchise star Emma Watson, Whitman had some cute things to say about working with her, and how life on a movie set is different than her usual routine in the TV show Parenthood.

Why did you want to play Mary Elizabeth?
MW: I wanted to play Mary Elizabeth because to me, in every aspect, she's one of the most interesting characters. In the book [and] the script, she has an incredible story arc, and I feel like she's one of the more tragic — but also in the end, perfectly well-off — characters. I think she really goes through a change of finding herself and being OK with certain things. She has so many extremes, and I think she really is able to find a balance through going through a relationship with Charlie, and then being so hurt, and having to come into being OK with who she is on her own, and finding somebody that actually cares about her, and not just letting her flood gates open on somebody that's not into her. And besides that, she definitely has the coolest wardrobe: she has the coolest makeup. I mean, amazing stuff. You know, I think they all kind of got really excited with my character 'cause they could do whatever they wanted. [Laughs] So, we have some really interesting looks.

In the book, Mary Elizabeth makes a fanzine. If you were to make a fanzine, what would it be about?
MW: Is it taboo to say Harry Potter? That’s definitely one of the things I’m the biggest fan of. Or like, Lord of the Rings or comic books. Yeah, I guess it would be either that or food. Just food in general. The two things I love the most are Harry Potter and food.

So did you freak out then, when you found out Emma Watson was your costar?
MW: Yeah. I was so excited. I've read every [Harry Potter] book, like gotten them at midnight when they came out, and dressed up. I mean, it was definitely a big deal. I slowly release tidbits to her about how excited I am, but I don't want to let it all come at once. I think she'd get a restraining order or something.

To read the rest of our interview with Whitman, just keep reading.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower was written 13 years ago, and this Fall, the adaptation is being brought to the big screen by its own author, Stephen Chbosky. Chbosky wrote the screenplay and directed the film after carefully casting the coming-of-age drama, picking young, talented actors like Logan Lerman and Emma Watson to play high-schoolers Charlie and Sam. At a set visit of the film I attended last year with several other reporters, we talked to Chbosky about turning the novel into a film, shooting the movie in his hometown of Pittsburgh, and why he knew he had made the right casting decisions.

How was it adapting your own novel for the screen?
SC: It really is, as cliché as it sounds, it's a dream come true. I've wanted to make this movie. I first thought of the title of this movie 20 years ago this Fall — or, the title of the book and movie, 20 years ago this coming Fall. So I always felt that it would probably be both. And so yeah, it is a dream come true.

Had you intended for it to become a movie when you were writing the book?
SC: I hoped that it would, yes.

It's been 13 years since the book came out; where do you think Charlie is today?
SC: Um, you'll have to read the sequel [laughs].

What changes did you have to make to shift the book's letter format to a narrative screenplay?
SC: I didn't have to make many changes; I just had to be very specific about the execution. You have to see it; it's hard to describe intellectually. You have to just see it. What I found was, I wrote the book as a series of letters because I wanted the reader to feel very intimately connected to Charlie, and so it was finding a point of view from the film that would lead to the same connection. And luckily with Logan Lerman, it's not very difficult to get that sense of connection.

Find out what else Chbosky said about the film, and why he chose Watson to play Sam after the jump.

In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, out Sept. 21, Ezra Miller plays supporting character Patrick, a gay teen who helps Charlie (Logan Lerman) adjust to life in high school. When I visited the Pittsburgh set last year with a few reporters, we sat down with Miller to talk about his role and his experience filming the movie. Miller talked about why Patrick's sexuality doesn't matter to the formation of the character, explains how he feels about being part of the adaptation of such a beloved book, and sings the praises of his lovely costar Emma Watson, who plays his stepsister.

What do you like about your character, Patrick?
Ezra Miller: I like how vivacious and unapologetic and proud he is. And I like more than anything that he is a real, sympathetic individual and that — despite the fact that the character is gay — that plays really no part in the formation of the human being. I just remember reading Patrick and realizing that, 'Oh no. This character has no basis in being gay.' That he's a fully formed being and that is an aspect of him, as [it] is an aspect of us all. Our sexuality — it's not the defining quality. It's just one element.

Did you ever think about playing Charlie?
EM: No. It's funny because when I read this book, I was 13 years old and, you know, when a 13-year-old boy reads that book, [he's] identifying with Charlie. And so, initially, there was maybe some sort of thought of like, 'Oh, that's the character that I remembered most immediately,' but no. When the script came around, it was Patrick and it had to be. No, no, [there was] never a real consideration of wanting to play Charlie. And when I got the script, Logan "The Ultimate Baller Champion" Lerman was already attached, so that was just sort of a thrilling, obvious thing. And at that time, there was no way to possibly expect what he was going to do with his character, and I already trusted him fully.

In the book, Patrick and Sam have a deep connection, so how was it working with Emma and establishing that?
EM: Oh, man. Far too easy! Unjustly easy! They should've thrown me someone a little harder to handle so it could've been a bit of a challenge. Emma's one of the most severely mind-blowing forces of my peer group in acting right now, and I think based on what's come before this, people just have no idea what she's capable of. She has become, in these short weeks, one of my dearest friends — I think that will be the case forever — and she is the type of artist who is going to make her true self known in time, and I personally look forward to watching an entire population of Harry Potter fans get their minds twisted into small, pretzel-ish knots over what this girl can do. That's exciting to me.

Read more of Miller's interview to find out just how big of a Harry Potter fan he is after the jump.

In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Logan Lerman stars as Charlie, a high school freshman who finds solace in a group of friends after struggling with depression and his painful past. When we visited the set last year with a few other reporters, we chatted with Lerman about taking on the role of the sensitive protagonist, what it was like to work with costar Emma Watson (who also shared her thoughts about the movie), and how the film had to differ from the novel.

Stephen Chbosky, the director, said he knew he had found his Charlie when he met you. What made you understand the character so well?
Logan Lerman: I guess I was very similar to Charlie in many ways, growing up, and I just really responded to the material. Yeah, it was just an instant understanding, and I just knew I had to play the part.

In what ways did you feel similar to Charlie?
LL: I guess with his awkwardness and trying to figure things out in that time period and how to socialize and fit in. I guess I wasn't as naive as him, but I definitely had the morals that he had, so it kind of . . . I don't know. I really can't explain it very well . . . I’m just very similar to him, I guess. A lot of situations in the script have actually happened to me in real life, so I just connected with it.

What is it like working with Emma Watson?
LL: She's great. She's really a great person and easy to work with and a fantastic actress. [I am] a big fan of Harry Potter. Yeah, it's really exciting to see her outside of the series and what she's able to do. She's not only pulling it off, but she's blowing people away with her performance.

Read more of what Lerman had to say about Perks after the jump.

The adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower comes out this Fall, and I took a trip to the set last year to observe a day of filming and interview the cast. The movie tells the story of a teen, Charlie (Logan Lerman), who has a hard time fitting in until he finds a special group of friends. Emma Watson plays Sam, a high school senior who gets close to Charlie but struggles with her own issues. When I and a few reporters chatted with Watson about the film, she talked about why she wanted to play Sam so much, moving on after Harry Potter, and how director Stephen Chbosky, who also wrote the book, envisioned her as Sam before she signed on.

What attracted you to this role and this story?
Emma Watson: I'd been reading scripts after the fourth Harry Potter movie around the age of 15, 16 and just didn't read anything that I really loved instantly . . . it's almost not that I had lost interest, but my agent was starting to get stressed. I wasn't really into anything and then I read Perks of Being a Wallflower, and it's so beautifully written and so funny. I was incredibly moved by it and just instantly knew A) that the movie had to be made and B) that I had to play Sam. I really wanted to play Sam, and was just really drawn to her, so when I met with Stephen, we just instantly clicked and it felt like I was meeting an old friend. Then I met with Logan, and I knew he was the perfect Charlie, and it was just a really obvious, obvious choice for me.

How did you get your American accent to play Sam?
EW: I worked with a dialect coach before the movie. I'd rather give a really good performance — obviously I'm hoping that my accent is going to be perfect — but I kind of didn't want that to take over too much. My other castmates have been incredibly supportive; if I ever need to check anything, I'm just like, "Say this," and then they'll say it and I'll be like, "OK, thanks," and that will be it. So, it's been easy.

Find out what else Watson had to say about Perks, like her favorite scenes and the '90s fashion, after the jump.

Emma Watson plays Sam in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and when I was invited to the set of the film adaptation with a few other reporters, I was eager to talk to her about taking on one of her first post-Harry Potter roles (and using an American accent). We visited the high school set of the film, which is a coming-of-age tale about a boy, Charlie (Logan Lerman), who struggles with depression but finds a group of friends who make him feel accepted. I'm a huge fan of the book, so I was happy that everything I saw indicated that the movie will live up to its beloved source material. Director Stephen Chbosky is also the author of the novel, so each decision was painstakingly made, beginning with the setting of Pittsburgh, where the book takes place. On set, we chatted with a few of the cast members, including Lerman, Watson, Ezra Miller, and Mae Whitman. Read on for what they said about the movie — and how excited Emma's costars were to be working with her — and stay tuned for the full interviews from the stars.

Have you read the book, and do you feel pressure to live up to it?
Emma Watson: I read the script first and then I read the book. It was so funny because I read the script and I came back to Brown and I told my roommates that I've just read this amazing script, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and my friends were like, "Oh, that's my favorite book. So jealous that you get to play Sam. If I was ever going to be in a movie, if I was ever going to play any character ever, it would be Sam." I didn't realize, but similarly to Harry Potter, the books really have this cult following, so that was really interesting, but the response that I get from people who have read the book and really identify with it is pretty intense. It's kind of amazing to be part of another movie product again that has so much love for it in the same way that Harry Potter does.

Ezra Miller: What I feel is a great honor and a great privilege to be able to be involved in something that is of such deep seminal importance for my generation. And no, I don't feel a pressure. I feel a necessity, which, as an artist, is what I want. I think necessity is the mother of all invention. We need — as artists — that mother to validate our actions. And yeah, the very wonderful relationship between the readers of this book and this project, it's only a happy flame beneath us. It's not some sort of massive something that threatens to crush us. Or at least that's how I felt. I've just felt sort of spurred on by the fans, not deterred or intimidated.

Mae Whitman: I read the book a while ago — a few years ago and then, actually, some friends that are on Parenthood with me — Miles [Heizer] and Sarah [Ramos] — it's their favorite book too, so when it started coming back in periphery, I reread it and we all just would talk about it every day, and it's such a seriously special, meaningful book. Like, it means something to everybody that's read it, so to be a part of something like that is really special, and because the people who tell you that they appreciate it really mean it from a really visceral place.

To read more from the cast of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, just keep reading.