Perks Set Interviews

Last summer writers from several media sites were invited to the set of Perks of Being a Wallflower to interview the cast, and these set reports are now coming out. I’ve pulled out the Emma Watson quotes and listed them below, or you can read the full interview including other cast members at NovelNovice, Buzz Sugar and Hollywood.com.

What attracted Emma to the role

I really started reading scripts maybe after the fourth Harry Potter movie, around the age of 15, 16. And really didn’t read anything that I really loved instantly. And then, it was almost like, you know, not that I’d lost interest, but my agent was starting to get stressed. Pretty sure, I was kind of “Bleh, do I have to read it.” And then I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower and it was so beautifully written and so funny and so incredibly moved by it, and I just instantly knew that (a) the movie had to be made and (b) that I had to play Sam. I really wanted to play Sam. I was just really drawn to her. And so, then I met with Stephen, who, when I met with Stephen, we just instantly clicked and I felt like I was meeting an old friend. And then I met Logan, and I knew he was the perfect Charlie.

Reading the book

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 book to movie product again that has so much love for it in the same way that Harry Potter does.

The pressure to live up to the book

Oh, absolutely. I was very nervous before we started shooting. I was very nervous about the American accent. I was very nervous about the fact that the kids on this movie have had a lot of the experiences that pertained to their characters’ journey and story. They grew up [here], they went to American high school, they know what prom looks like, all these little details that I had no idea about, so I was a little neurotic and my script was covered in notes about all of these American words, American slang. I was quizzing my friends about high school and prom and everything. And then Steve was like, “Emma, this is great and everything but you need to let all that go,” because he said that he saw me as Sam, and it was kind of as simple as that. I don’t know what it was that he saw in me that made him so think that it was me, but when I met with him he had a book — he made a bible of what he wanted all the visuals to look like and everything. And this was before I had even met with him, before I’d accepted, and he had photographs of me all the way through this book with ideas of Sam, [so] I knew he wasn’t bullshitting. I knew that I was really the only person he could see as Sam, so that was a big deal for me. I guess [there’s] an element of paranoia for me that directors would maybe bring me on because of the huge following Harry Potter has, or for some other reason like that, so it really meant a lot for me to know that there was no one else for this role. That was really nice to know.

Emma’s American accent

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.

Scenes Emma enjoyed filming the most

For lots of different reasons, but there are bunch of scenes that are just Ezra, Logan and I – Patrick, [Charlie, and] Sam  – and we ended up adlibbing a lot and riffing off one another. That’s been really fun. There’s a scene where Patrick and Sam dance at homecoming, and I would say that, but I was really too terrified to enjoy it, because I had to get up in front of, like, 300 extras and do a two-minute — well actually, it wasn’t two minutes, more like 30 seconds, I think it just felt that long — crazy, like, full-on dance. Which was fun, but also terrifying.

The Tunnel scene

Hands down, one of the best moments of my life. I mean, Summit really didn’t want me to do the stunt. I was not meant to do it to all, but I begged Stephen, “I really, really want to do this.” And he’s like, “All right.” And I ended up doing it seven or eight times. The car was going at 56 miles an hour, [my] hands in the air all the way through the tunnel, coming out the other end. First time we did it, I was so emotional I cried. It was really, really special. And seeing the shot, what it’s going to look like, it’s going to blow your mind. I don’t want to build it up too much, but it’s stunning. It’s stunning. And Steve knew when he conceptualized it, that it would be amazing, but I think he exceeded his expectations to what a great movie moment it would be.

Working with Stephen Chbosky

Best ever. I love it. Stephen’s vision is so pure, he knows exactly what he wants, exactly how it is. I can ask him anything. And I’m a little bit OCD … and I realize, with Hermione, that I was such a big fan of the books, I knew everything. I’m like a Harry Potter dictionary. I could tell you everything and anything. I wanted to be like that with this movie, too. And I could just write down questions anytime I wanted to ask him anything. And he could create new dialogue with me on the spot and we can adapt. And that’s been the great thing about him, too, is he’s realized that he is making something new. It’s obviously going to be true to the book, but he understands that the movie is different, he’s creating something new with actors.

That was the first thing I really felt when I first met him. I really feel like he gets me. So working with him has been amazing. He knows exactly how to get the performance that he wants from me. Even if it’s just, he’ll say to me between takes, “Emma! Emma, don’t smile.” And of course I’ll break out and start laughing … There was a scene that we did where I receive a letter from Charlie where he says he thinks that I’ll get into Penn State. And it’s really moving to Sam. And I’ve been doing it for like four takes, and the envelope’s just empty, I’ve been reading it. And then Stephen wrote to me a letter inside of that. And then that was the take that, of course, he chose to keep. And of course, what he wrote was very meaningful to me. So he’s been like, it’s been … it’s not just been great as an actress … he really cared about all of us having a good time. He said that in the beginning, “I want you to have the time of your life.”

Sam’s style

The cool thing about Sam is that she walks that line between a little bit rocky, but then also she is kind of like a bit preppy and she also is kind of like humorous with her style a little bit as well and she kind of does a little bit of everything, she’s quite eclectic. That was one of Steve’s first notes, he’s like, “she has great style, great attitude, great taste.” So, I mean no pressure! When I walked into costume I was like, ‘Alright guys this has got to be amazing’. A lot of the clothes are actually my clothes that I brought in. I’m actually wearing one of my grandmother’s dresses, which I got altered from the 80s. Sam’s style is very interesting. There’s a couple of looks that have been interesting for me to wear, because they’re very all-American. I’m like, ‘Wow, if my friends could see me now’.

Working on a smaller film than HP

It’s different, but I love it. The pace is much faster, the hours in the day are full on, I have no time to get anything else done, other than basically go home, eat, sleep, shower, get ready for the next day. That’s it really. My life is being here and my work. It’s really full on. But everyone gets so close because we’re on location together, and apart from that, you have to fit more into the day. I loved it. I don’t know if I want to go back.

The shooting schedule’s been kind of crazy and it’s such a great group of people and we’ve all got so close that we mainly just hang out at the Crowne Plaza. I’m serious. And we play music and pretty much everyone as part of the cast is musically talented in some way so we spend most of our evenings playing music and just talking and just being silly.

[Stephen] really cared about all of us having a good time. He said that at the beginning: ‘I want you to have the summer of your lives.’ And I absolutely did.

And some quotes by cast members about working with Emma

Logan Lerman: 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.

Ezra Miller: They should have thrown me someone a little harder to handle so it could have been a bit of a challenge. Emma’s one of the most severely mind-blowing forces of my peer group in acting right now. 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. 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.

Nina Dobrev: This has been a really great choice for Emma, and the role couldn’t be more perfect for her. It’s different than ‘Harry Potter.’ She’s showing everyone in the world that she’s got a different side of her and that she’s not just this one character. She’s kicking butt and taking names.”

posted by dook on Monday, August 20th, 2012, filed under Perks of Being a Wallflower.