Interview (Written): Jesse Andrews (“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”)

Indiewire’s Anne Thompson interviewed novelist turned screenwriter Jesse Andrews, who adapted his own book “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” for the screen. The movie won both the 2015 Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury and Audience prizes.

How did you get to write the screenplay?

I wrote the book, but didn’t have any expectations to write the screenplay, or to hope to write it. My agent was shopping the film rights. Dan Fogelman the producer had the insane idea: “Hey, do you want to, if I was helping you, shepherding you, would that appeal to you?” I was sleeping on a couch at time.

It wasn’t published yet?

This was before it was published. He read galleys. He liked the book. Indian Paintbrush responded positively to Dan, and the writing/talent combination excited them. I’m sure if I had turned in something horrible, Dan goes in and writes it. He made himself available. I just wanted to be free to make mistakes. It was an organic process. Some mistakes needed to be fixed, some mistakes might be the reason the screenplay was distinctive and worth making. You’re not going to know until you make them.

I had no reason to believe the book would do all that well. It was a debut novel from an unknown author. It delivered some good reviews. It wasn’t on any bestseller lists. It was the sort of book that went deep into the young adult world. Barnes and Noble promoted it with displays in March 2012.

— —

Did you study screenwriting?

No, nothing. I never took creative writing. I had to read a lot of screenplays to get familiar with the form. I read a number of Fogelman’s, I liked his style, discipline and economy, the seamlessness of it, the combination of art and craft, he doesn’t show the seams of the story as he’s putting it together in a deft way to build to reveal inevitable and surprising things. I learned a lot from reading the scripts and talking to him. He would pitch me an idea or two to set my mind on fire. Everything he said opened me up to possibilities.

— —

What are the differences between the book and the movie?

Discipline, economy, collapsing exchanges into shorter more focused dialogue. A lot of profanity got lost along the way for obvious reasons, but that didn’t change much at all.

The movie is currently in theaters. Declare your independents and go see it!

For the rest of the interview, go here.