The Toughest Scene I Wrote: “The Fault in Our Stars”

Once again, Vulture does screenwriters a solid:

Over the next few weeks, Vulture will speak to the screenwriters behind 2014’s most acclaimed movies about the scenes they found most difficult to crack. Which pivotal sequences underwent the biggest transformations on their way from script to screen?

In this article, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, who adapted the John Green novel “The Fault in Our Stars,” talk about one particular scene and why it “characterized the entire adaptation”:

It’s a scene where Hazel (who knows she’s dying) and Gus (who knows he’s dying but hasn’t told Hazel yet) have traveled to Amsterdam for what they’re sure will be the trip of a lifetime. That first night in town, they’re treated to a five-star dinner in one of the city’s swankiest restaurants. Despite the romantic setting, finality is on their minds, as it so often is, and so their thoughts turn to the afterlife — what happens after you die? Is there more to the story? Will any of this suffering and sadness make sense?

Big questions, big themes; not exactly your typical teenage dinner conversation. But these are not your typical teenagers. Though they live their lives refusing to let their disease define them, Hazel and Gus are also acutely aware of their need to accelerate a lifetime of experience into what little time is left. Something the rest of us never do.

But maybe should.

For the rest of the article, go here. Kudos to Vulture for this annual series which puts the spotlight on screenwriters.