Stephen Chbosky is a patient man. He could have sold the rights to make THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER when he first published that novel in 1999. Instead, he waited until he could not only write the script himself, but also direct. When I spoke with him on August 24, 2012, the first thing I wanted to ask him was why he didn’t take the money and run. His answer revealed a man who is a man of principle who respects the devoted following his book garnered and still does to this day. And one who appreciates the perspective that the passage of time has given him. I found him to be thoughtful, witty, and grateful for the response to the film he was finally able to make. I was grateful to be able to finally find out something not explained in either the book or the film. What exactly is a grilled sticky?
Chbosky directed from his own screenplay, which is based on his much-loved novel of the same name. It follows Charlie, a sweet kid with a high IQ and emotional problems, as he starts his freshman year of high school with trepidation, and ends it as a more fully integrated individual thanks to a misfit pair of seniors who take him in socially, and introduce him to life’s strange, wonderful, and sometimes painful possibilities. The film stars Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd, Dylan McDermott, and Kate Walsh. Chbosky was co-creator and executive producer of television’s Jericho, a rumination on the breakdown of society in the wake of government collapse, which, like Star Trek, was pulled from the brink of cancellation by a fan protest of epic proportions. His first film, THE FOUR CORNERS OF NOWHERE, was nominated for the 1995 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
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