Kidsday talks with cast of 'The Fault in Our Stars'
Actors Shailene Woodley (Hazel) and Ansel Elgort (Augustus) who star in the "The Fault in our Stars," with Kidsday reporters Marianna Parpas, Julianna Cianciola, Amanda Osman, Nicole Vitiello and Casey Brown, all from Commack Middle School, at the Crosby Hotel in Manhattan on May 5, 2014. Credit: Newsday / Pat Mullooly
"The Fault in Our Stars" is a beautiful movie based on the novel by author John Green. It shows the journeys of two cancer patients and how they deal with it in their everyday lives.
Along the way, Hazel (played by Shailene Woodley) and Augustus (Ansel Elgort) find each other and show the audience how cancer doesn't define them. Through the movie, they try to figure out what mark they want to leave on the world while discovering who they are through each other. This motion picture will make you laugh, cry or possibly want to scream, but that's what makes it so captivating.
This movie was very true to the book. Many of the lines from the book were directly quoted by the characters. Hazel narrated the story and expressed her thoughts, which was also very much like the book. By doing this, the readers and non-readers in the audience were able to understand what was going on without added scenes. It was also exciting for those of us who loved the novel to be able to quote the next line. Even if they had to take out a few scenes to move the plot forward, the ones that stayed were very exact.
One of our favorite parts from the novel on the big screen only intensified how much we loved them. One of these scenes was when Augustus expresses his love for Hazel. Although the setting was different, the meaning came through even stronger. It was a moment where teenage love wasn't seen as cute or immature; their love was shown with integrity. This portrayed the idea that they were capable of something stronger than love because of how they saw the world. It was an extremely touching moment and truly captured the happiness of the characters.
Another beautiful scene was in the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. This scene showed how strong Hazel's character was, and it also showed the care Augustus had for her by helping her up the stairs. Both of these scenes were very powerful and really gave the audience insight into their characters.
We would recommend this movie to mature teenagers, 13 and older. Every last detail in this story line was thought out and may be difficult for younger viewers to truly see the meaning of them.
We give this movie 5 smiles for being as true to the book as possible and because of how touching it was. It was also very humorous while being heartbreaking all the same. Watching this will be an emotional roller coaster. After seeing the movie, we met with author Green, Shailene, Ansel, and co-star Nat Wolff. Here is part of our conversation with Shailene and Ansel:
Was it weird to work as siblings in "Divergent" and then to be boyfriend and girlfriend in "The Fault in Our Stars"?
Shailene: It wasn't weird at all. It was a gift actually because we got to know each other really well doing "Divergent." But we were comfortable with each other already, so we were able to bring love and a sense of vulnerability to the movie.
Was there anything from the book that you wished was in the movie?
Shailene: There's one scene, the backyard scene, where we get rid of the swing set. We actually filmed that, but the movie was too long, so they had to cut it out. But it will be in the DVD.
Ansel: Yeah, that's a sweet scene. Other than that, they did such a good job adapting it. I don't feel that they cut out anything that was that important. I mean everything is obviously important, but it works the way they've cut it.
How did playing your character in "Fault" compare to playing the characters in "Divergent"?
Shailene: They're kind of night and day different.
Ansel: Yeah, I'm very happy watching these movies. Both of these experiences were so different as an actor playing them, but also now, to be sure, like, I'll watch "Divergent," and I'll watch this, and I'll feel like I'm watching two totally different people for both of us.
Before taking the role, did you guys have to do any research on cancer patients or survivors?
Shailene: Yeah, we did. We met with a lot of people who either had cancer or have cancer still or are in remission. It was really awful to get to know the physical side of what they're going through. But emotionally it's beautiful because you realize that cancer didn't define any of them. None of our conditions defines who we are.
What intrigued you to audition for this role?
Shailene: I wanted to audition because this book was so inspiring to me and really changed my life. I just thought the messages were so universally important. No matter how old or young you are, or how long of a life or short of a life you live, it's not the big epic things you do that matter -- it's the small everyday interactions that really matter.