Feature: Josh Cagan (“The DUFF”)

A feature from the Hartford Courant on screenwriter Josh Cagan who wrote the screenplay adapation of The DUFF, based on a novel written by then 18 year-old Kody Keplinger. Excerpts:

“Bianca [the story’s Protagonist] has a great voice. Bianca’s voice is Kody’s voice. She is this smart, self-assured, snarky, cutting and pop culturally aware character,” Cagan, 42, said. “I wanted to make sure the movie had at its center not a perfect person but somebody who can handle herself. Even though she’s confused about romantic stuff, she’s no wallflower and she’s no doormat. She’s a tough cookie, as is Kody.”

“There is a lot of ‘doing it’ in that book. It makes sense for the world of the book but it didn’t make sense for the world of a PG-13 movie,” he said. “The thing about the sex scenes in the book, though, is that they are fun. I wanted that sense of playfulness, flirtatiousness, spontaneity in the movie without the gratuitous ‘doing it’. … I wanted a freewheeling sense of fun, but with an adult sensibility.”

Cagan’s movie also adds a major character, gorgeous mean girl Madison, because movies need a clear-cut antagonist and Keplinger’s book didn’t have one. “Madison came to life in the development process to just be the anti-Bianca. … She’s somebody who’s also self-assured and self-actualized and a tough cookie,” he said. “She has all the traits that make Bianca lovable, but her switch has been switched to evil.”

A trailer for the movie:

The Duff opens this weekend.

For the rest of the article, go here.