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.
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