Chbosky always felt that the friendship between the teenagers in the movie would have to bleed into real life for it to be believable on screen. “I told everyone that it was really important that they have the summer of their lives,” he says. “If they did that, my job would be easy. And they did. All the camaraderie led to for them staying up all night and playing music and becoming great friends, which translated to the movie. And that extended to all the kids in the cast. Mae Whitman and Emma became instant girlfriends.”
Whitman, who currently plays Amber Holt on the NBC series “Parenthood,” is Mary Elizabeth, Sam’s best friend and an important influence on Charlie. “Mary Elizabeth is really bossy, and tries to be in charge of everybody,” says Chbosky. “She can be a bit of a buffoon sometimes, and Mae fully embraced the buffoonery in playing her. But through her relationship with Charlie, she eventually learns to open up to someone who cares about her and not just open the floodgates to someone who’s not that into her.”
The actress came to the set already a fan of the book. “I was surprised and grateful that the script was so faithful to the original,” she says. “So often a screenplay doesn’t do the book justice, but here, it didn’t feel like anything was missing. The story really puts the feeling of being young and sensitive in perspective. Everything is new and you’re having all these intense feelings for the first time. It can be overwhelming and emotional and painful. The movie deals with a lot of difficult issues, but nothing is sugarcoated. It’s comforting to know that other people are going through the same things, however dark they may be.”
Whitman found that her familiarity with book was a helpful guide for discovering the nuances in her character and rounding out her relationships with other characters. “Mary Elizabeth is a complex character,” says Whitman. “She’s kind of punky and Goth with an angry exterior and strong opinions. But she’s also a Buddhist. She feels the connection to the world and she passes that on to Charlie. It’s very hard for her to be vulnerable or to put herself out there in a way that is feminine. Through reading the book, I knew about many things that Sam and Mary Elizabeth had been through together and why they are so close.”
Nina Dobrev, one the stars of the CW Network’s popular “The Vampire Diaries,” plays Candace, Charlie’s seemingly happy older sister. “I think the film speaks to a lot of different kinds of people,” Dobrev says, “The people and issues transcend time. It doesn’t matter that it’s set in the ’90s, it relates to people today, and it will relate to people 10 years from now. My character tries to be perfect all the time, straight A’s and all of that. And her life turns out to be anything but. Everyone knows someone like that— or is that person.”
The cast also includes Erin Wilhelmi as Alice, Mary Elizabeth’s best friend. When she received the script, she knew right away which character she wanted to portray. Wilhelmi says, “In her first character description, it said that she was trying to be Goth, but not succeeding. And then it said, ‘Dot, dot, dot poor Alice.’ And I thought, ‘Perfect.’”
Johnny Simmons plays Brad, a high‐school quarterback with a secret life. Like the other characters, he has something to teach Charlie, whether he knows it or not. “From Sam, he learns about redemption,” says Chbosky. “From Patrick, he learns that it’s okay to be exactly who you are and be fearless about it. If people make fun of you, then fight back. Brad shows him that not everyone is who they seem. You never know what people are going through behind closed doors. Even the toughest person you’ve ever met has insecurities, you know. Even the toughest person needs love.”
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