When it comes to upcoming book adaptations, readers of the source material typically need to remove themselves, because imagining what the words on the page will look like in real life is too often a let down to the big screen version. The Regretting You movie is no different, but if you’ve wondered how the cast chose to compare the book with the script, we have some insights from them.
During CinemaBlend’s exclusive Regretting You interviews, we spoke to a few of the stars about their relationship with the Colleen Hoover bestseller the romance movie is based on. First, here are Mason Thames’ thoughts:
We embraced the script just as much as we did the book. Like that was the most important thing. We wanted to just do justice to the book and for the fans who love it so much. 'cause we are fans as well. So everybody gave it 110% to the book.
Regretting You is the second of Colleen Hoover’s novels to get a movie, with last year’s It Ends With Us being the first. Director Josh Boone told us that Hoover was not involved much on set, but he definitely kept her words close, and it offered him a lot of help during the production. Scott Eastwood said this:
No, I didn't want to let it cloud what was on the script. And I've done a few movies that are based on books and I find it's easier just to… I take that back. There've been some books that I've read that are based on true stories, and I've read those. But, this just felt like I was doing and I wanted to listen to [director Josh Boone] how he wanted it.
Believe it or not, this is a pretty common way for actors to approach book adaptations. Heck, when we talked to Keira Knightley recently for The Woman In Cabin 10, the actress, who has been in a ton of them, said she didn’t even touch the novel. Eastwood decided to stay true to the script over anything else. But his co-star, and daughter on the film, Mckenna Grace was all over the book on set. As she shared with us:
I had all my tabs… I’d have to go back and look at all my little notes. There was this one scene where I did like pull a sucker out of {Mason’s] mouth because that was in the book and there was like a whole thing. But I don't know. There were a couple of little things in there that I can't remember right now, but, there's a few.
Thames told us that Grace would often point to little details in the book and connect with the director to add them on set. Clearly she was doing her homework on set and cared a lot about giving fans of the book a solid rendition of Clara. (Grace is currently filming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, so we’d have to imagine she’s got more tabs on set for that, too!)
By their diversity in answers, it’s obvious that there’s not one way to handle being in a book adaptation. Sometimes it’s nice to have both versions to look at, and other times it might be too much, especially when you’re balancing a director’s vision. And as it goes with most movies, not everything made it into the movie – like one version of the adorable ending. Regretting You is now playing in theaters.
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