The Not-So Austen Bookclub discussion

Check out this interview with Gayle Forman for more info on the upcoming If I Stay movie! http://t.co/LE0y4GVCJh

'As aforementioned, Foreman was in Vancouver to catch some movie magic being made by the cast of the upcoming film adaptation of If I Stay: the author is also on board as an executive producer. Although Forman had no creative control over the process, she has nothing but praise for the way the script – and the casting – turned out. “It’s funny, because the film project has been a process that started even before the book came out,” Forman shares. “While we were thinking about Mia, I remember talking to Shauna Cross [screenwriter of If I Stay] and saying, ‘Chloë Moretz is so talented! Too bad she’s so young.’ This was in, like, 2010. But it took enough time [to get the project off the ground] that she’s aged into the perfect age – she’s exactly Mia’s age.” When asked to describe Chloë in one word, Forman ponders, ultimately settling on ‘miraculous.’ “The way Chloë acts is not how a 16-year-old acts,” gushes Forman. “You see scenes where it’s happening in her face; she understands and thinks about [a character] pretty deeply. You see her goofing around and having a good time, then all of a sudden it’s action time – and she brings it.”

“Jamie – swoon,” Forman says with a laugh. “All of my adult lady friends, we all have giant crushes on Jamie. All of the teens are going to have crushes on Jamie; he’s going to leave no stone unturned.” The English actor has appeared in films such as Snow White and the Huntsman and Uwantme2killhim?, though If I Stay could be considered his breakout role. “Jamie is the Adam,” shares Forman. “If you crawled into my brain and brought Adam out – that’s Jamie. And I didn’t know that actor would exist!” Like all of the characters Forman creates, she has a clear picture in her mind of who they are. “[Adam] is this interesting combination of somebody who is swaggery, confident, sexy and hot – but also very vulnerable. Somebody who’s not afraid to be in love… and also knows how to play guitar and sing. And then, there was Jamie! It was like they went into my brain and created him.” Forman quickly modifies the statement, adding that of course, Blackley already existed: “We just had to dig him out of England.”

“Mireille [Enos] is luminescent,” Forman says to describe the actress portraying Kat, Mia and Teddy’s eccentric mother. “Her scenes are so full of love and joy – just this great, edgy family.” Forman watched The Killing, becoming a fan of both Enos and her character, Sarah Linden. “When they brought Mireille on, I was like, ‘Oh, okay; this is who we’re going for, this caliber of actress,” explains Forman. “And it hasn’t stopped since.” She describes Joshua Leonard, who plays the father of the family, Denny, as “a heart,” adding that the relationship between his character and Mia is simply beautiful. “Jakob Davies, the little boy who plays Teddy, is adorable,” states Forman. “[He] is fantastic – such a natural.” On summing up Liana Liberato, who plays Mia’s best friend Kim, Forman settles on the term “on-the-verge,” because “I think she’s going to be huge.”

Asked to describe the remaining members of Adam’s band Shooting Star, Forman grins. “[The rest of Shooting Star] is just funny. Ali [Milner] is… I don’t want to say something stupid like ‘spunky,’ but she’s just got so much, ‘Yeah!’ I love her. Arielle [Tuliao] is playing Astrid; they changed the name from ‘Sarah’ in the book. Ben [Klassen] is adorable and hilarious. They’re just so much fun – I think they’re all great.” For the majority of Shooting Star’s members, If I Stay was their very first acting role – and it showed. “The band is like this litter of excited puppies, because they are so excited about it and so into it,” Forman shares. “And they seem just like a real band, because they are real musicians. Local musicians, in fact. You can’t fake that.”

Even so, the excitement of being on set exudes from more than just the first time actors. “There’s just a real feeling on set that people want to be there,” Forman says with a smile. “[It’s a] kind of special feeling. It just adds to this sense that everyone is excited about this, [and] I think that energy spills over into the shoot.” When asked about how it feels to have the characters and story she created come to life, Forman tells us that the actors are capturing “exactly the people I think they should be.” Most of all, the experience is humbling for the author, who eagerly describes the first time she saw the set for the Hall family house. “It was so perfectly done. I didn’t quite know how that had happened; I just talked to R.J. [Cutler, director of If I Stay] a bit about how I thought it would look, and sent him some pictures. I went in and looked at the set, then I went outside, called my husband and started to cry.”

Unfortunately, Forman does not yet know the release date of the film. “It will hopefully be by the end of 2014,” she tells us. “But I have no idea.”'

What are your thoughts?

I've never heard of these actors and actresses, but if the author likes them that much, then I probably will, too!

I'm really excited to see this one. If Jamie is that swoonilicious, then all the better :D

You can look up the full cast (and the other movie roles they have played) here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1355630/?...

Thanks :D