Ultimate Road Trip on Friendship in "Paper Towns"
Adapted from the bestselling novel by author John
Green (“The Fault in Our Stars”), PAPER TOWNS is a coming-of-age story
centering on Quentin and his enigmatic neighbor Margo, who loved mysteries so much
she became one. After taking him on an all-night adventure through their
hometown, Margo suddenly disappears--leaving behind cryptic clues for Quentin
to decipher. The search leads Quentin and his quick-witted friends on an
exhilarating adventure that is equal parts hilarious and moving. Ultimately, to
track down Margo, Quentin must find a deeper understanding of true
friendship--and true love.
The
heart of “Paper Towns” rests in its depictions of friendship and its
accompanying adventures, mysteries and even the aggravations that pull young
people together at a significant point in their lives. Q, Ben and Radar are the best of
friends. Their circle of friendship
grows with Margo’s disappearance. As Green explains, “Q, Ben and Radar are
extremely tight but as their high school years come to a close, they grapple
with the fact that their friendship is soon going to be different.”
“There’s
a real connection between these friends, and so the humor between them feels
lived in and real,” adds Schreier. “Ben
is this nerdy kid who desperately wants to have a girlfriend but has no idea
how to go about getting one,” says Austin Abrams, who takes on the role. “Like the other characters, he undergoes big
changes in his thinking about girls, and realizes that a girl he’s long had a
crush on, Lacey, is not only pretty, she’s actually very cool and sweet.”
For
the part of Radar, the filmmaker cast newcomer Justice Smith. “Radar is a
really sweet kid who plays saxophone in the high school band,” says Smith. “He’s
a little afraid of bringing his girlfriend Angela to his home because his
parents own the world’s largest collection of black Santas. He’s very embarrassed that his house has, you
know, like, 4,200 black Santas in it.”
Green
uses that story element as a mirror to Q’s initial, superficial view of
Margo. “It’s ludicrous how
monolithically we imagine Santa,” he points out. “And there’s a moment in the story when
Angela, upon learning of this unique collection, says, ‘I think it’s really
cool that your parents are helping to make Santa more complex.’”
Rounding
out the cast are Halston Sage as Lacey, and Jaz Sinclair as Angela. John Green explains the characters’ special
strengths. “Lacey Pemberton is blonde
and bubbly and people make all of these assumptions about her. And the character Angela is really the most
grounded in the movie,” Green continues. “She doesn’t have it all figured out,
either, but at critical moments she takes control.”
All
the characters share this critical factor of being relatable, thanks to John
Green’s unique voice and ability to create young protagonists that are real,
caring, and multidimensional. Nat Wolff says, “Paper Towns is funny, romantic
and, yes, real. It reminds me so much of my friends in high school and so much
of girls I’ve been in love with and it’s all so close, it’s scary.”
Ride
on your ultimate journey with friends when “Paper Towns” open this July 22 in
theatres nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by
Warner Bros.
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