‘If I Stay’ Conference: How Chloë Grace Moretz and Filmmakers Were Spirited Away

By Jorge Carreón.

At one point during the recent press conference in Los Angeles for the new romantic drama “If I Stay,” I said to the panel that I feared the film would be a John Hughes film with mortality issues. Screenwriter Shauna Cross, did not even hesitate to say, “I’d see that movie.” The more I think about the movie, I realize that’s exactly what Cross and director R.J. Cutler (“The September Issue”) have succeeded in crafting from Gayle Forman’s best-selling novel.

In addition to being scored by a truly kicking soundtrack, the Hughes model is put to great effect by teen dreams Chloë Grace Moretz and Jamie Blackley, each representing an adolescent archetype we all wish we were in high school. Mia (Moretz) is the cellist with dreams of going to Julliard, despite her coming from a carefree, ex-rocker family. Adam is that cool guy in the Senior Class with a band who actually becomes an indie rock star with growing national attention. Mia and Adam are fated to fall in love, even though their dreams take them to an emotional crossroads. Yet, fate intervenes when a tragic accident transports Mia into a purgatory in the most literal sense, where she must actually make the hardest decision anyone can make: whether to stay on Earth or…not.

Can you imagine what “Pretty in Pink” or “Sixteen Candles” would have been like if Molly Ringwald had to step into the spectral light?

While Hughes was more comfortable with class issues, the awkward truths of young love and taking the day off from high school, today’s youths have been exposed to a lot more of the world. Life and death are not scary, rather, they’re harsh realities that have been taken to new heights in popular culture, particularly with such works as “Twilight,” “Divergent” and “The Hunger Games” books.

Fans of all of the novels listed above are notoriously protective of their literary experience with these authors and their characters. Forman, who has been very supportive of Cutler and Cross’ work, made her approval clear during the press conference several times, relieving any fan-based tension in the process.

“I didn’t want it to be a direct like page to screen exact replica,” author Gayle Forman said about how her novel was brought to the screen. “Knowing the script that we had and Chloë, I knew that it was all going to come together. From that point on, it was really gratifying. It was just like, “Okay, it’s in good hands now.”

“If I Stay” also marks a new chapter for Moretz, whose own transition from child star to leading lady is taking a crucial leap forward with the role of Mia. While she’s been praised by her rather mature turns in “500 Days of Summer,” the “Kick-Ass” films, “Hugo” and “Let Me In,” she is commendably traveling darker territory with projects like “Carrie” and the upcoming “Equalizer” reboot. What was refreshing to discover is that she is very much aware of the challenges ahead once audience – and the industry – see her in this context.

“I’m still fighting for every role that I get,” the 17 year-old star admitted. “I’m fighting the boundary of ‘How old I can be?’ or ‘How young I can be?’ and ‘How they want me to be something else that I’m not.’ So, that’s kind of a major thing that I’m battling with right now.”

That “If I Stay” is closing out the summer season is a bit of a surprise. Dramas have traditionally been seen as better suited for fall. But the mixed bag of box office fortune with genre films this season did allow for some interesting surprises, like the success of “The Fault In Our Stars.”

Unlike those other Young Adult genre franchises, Forman’s “If I Stay,” like John Green’s “The Fault In Our Stars,” is very much grounded in something pure. Despite the tragedy that unfolds, a sense of optimism exists. These teens are aspirational figures, turning their narrative into something life affirming in the process, one that plays to all ages. That’s certainly the case with the powerful film version of “The Fault in the Stars,” but the sensitive “If I Stay” possesses a crucial difference.

“There’s that beautiful line in the film when Adam first meets Mia,” director R.J. Cutler added. “He says, ‘I see you.’ That’s what this whole film is about and so that’s all very affirmative stuff. It’s not that I think it’s important to get out a positive message. It’s who these people are and what the story is about. It’s a movie about life. It’s not at all about death and in every way we made the film, we were focused on the life side of it.”

Here’s more with Moretz, Forman, Cutler and screenwriter Shauna Cross on how they were all spirited away by the very earthbound experience of bringing “If I Stay” to life.

QUESTION: Shauna, what was your reaction to Gayle’s book and how did that inform the adaptation you wrote?

SCREENWRITER SHAUNA CROSS: Her book is amazing. It’s funny and it’s moving. My whole approach was just to recreate in the film version of what I felt like when reading the book. It sort of comes on without a sense of its own importance and then it slowly unravels and then it kind of destroys you. My project was just to protect that. I come from a comedy background, so I thought the parents were so funny and so rich, like so many of the characters. I fell in love with all the really funny moments. It wasn’t until I was walking through it with the studio when I first started writing it that I went, “Oh, I’m writing a tragedy!” In a way, focusing on the life parts of the story versus like the sad parts of the story kept me from kind of getting buried by the heaviness of it. When you have your own original screenplays, you sort of question yourself in different ways. But, when someone else has already done the hard work and it’s already been their baby, you can protect it a lot more because they’ve already given you the map.

QUESTION: The original source material may be part of the Young Adult fiction vanguard of today. Do you feel “If I Stay” the film does play to a much wider audience, too?

DIRECTOR R.J. CUTLER: We do not think of this as a movie for teenagers or for girls. We think about this film as a movie for people who are in families, who have parents, who are parents. We find that all of those people respond to the film and respond with the kind of full emotional impact.

AUTHOR GAYLE FORMAN: It’s not that we like sad movies that make us feel like, “Oh my God, what a bummer.” We like emotionally moving experiences and this is nothing new. I mean, this is a catharsis. It goes back to the Greeks and I think that we like movies and books that give us this emotionally moving experience where you feel like a slightly different person and you see the world a little a different after you finish. It lets you see your own life in a different way and it actually makes you feel really good. Even though there might be sad content that is making this happen, I think the feeling that you’re left with is actually one that is quite good and quite hopeful and clarifying and uplifting.

QUESTION: Chloë, you’ve taken on some rather challenging roles this year with “Carrie” and “Kick Ass 2” this year alone. What’s been your motivation to take on more complex roles as you mature on screen? Has it been a challenge to be seen as a mature actor?

CHLOË GRACE MORETZ: It’s been hard for a number reasons. You’re always constantly having this struggle, especially as an actress, against the higher powers that are trying to keep you in a spot which makes them feel comfortable. Even though it’s been hard, it’s been easy in a way because I’ve always followed my heart. With every project I’ve ever chosen, it’s been something that I feel I couldn’t live without; I couldn’t spend another day in my life not knowing that I didn’t do that role. I will give my all to that role and give all my emotions and soul to it. It’s also been incredibly uplifting and incredibly eye opening. I think I wouldn’t be quite the same young woman I am now. As for why do I choose the really dark roles? I think because I have quite a normal family and I’m like kind of bored with how normal my family is. I want to mess stuff up a bit and I choose the kind of messed up characters because that’s acting. Doing things and exploring emotions that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to explore.

QUESTION: Chloë, did you draw on your life experiences to create of a sense of emotional authenticity in Mia’s relationship with Adam?

MORETZ: Everyone says you have to draw from a modicum of self-experience for roles. When you’re creating a love story, when you’re in relationships with people, not every relationship is the same. Not every love that you find is the same. You learn through each relationship that there are many different ways you can love someone. I think with (co-star) Jamie (Blackley) and I, we just became good friends. We were able to create this love relationship just by goofing around with each other and being silly and having a good time, like rapping to Kanye. It’s always awkward when you’re having to like to kiss someone and then R.J.’s like, “Turn your head to the right, please. And, then make it look like you actually like each other. And we’re like, “How do we look? Do we look good?” It worked though once we got it. (Laughs)

CUTLER: I’m thrilled that we cast these two remarkable actors, but their commitment comes from such a place of truth. They made a connection with each other. That gives the film such a rich texture.

QUESTION: We are seeing films with very complex narratives featuring young people facing their mortality. But what unifies these stories is their incredible sense of optimism, too. How did you work to protect that optimism with “If I Stay?”

CUTLER: Well, it’s a really interesting question. It’s not just the film’s viewpoint and the book’s view point of being young; it’s what the whole piece is about. I often get asked, “Well, how did you make the decision not to have spirit Mia be transparent or float through walls?” and things like that. It was clear to me the moment I read the book and thinking about the movie that she would be as real as possible. We would respond to her as if she was real because she’s having this real experience. That to me was a way of making the story of what’s going on with her about life, not about death. Similarly, the story of her life is a very affirmative one. It’s a story of that great love that some of us are lucky enough to have, or burdened enough to have at a young age. (Smiles) I know what it’s like to be young and passionate about art. I discovered the theater when I was in the first grade and started directing. I know what that is like and I wanted to convey that as well. These guys have a remarkable family. It’s a remarkable family because even though they think to themselves and Mia thinks to herself that she’s so different from everybody else, and she describes herself as a Martian and says she was switched at birth, they see each other. They know each other. What they care about is that they understand each other.

QUESTION: Do you all believe in life after death?

MORETZ: Here’s what I find interesting about this movie in particular to kind of keep it centered on “If I Stay” and not just my religious beliefs or whatever else. Even though it deals with life after death, it isn’t religion based. What I love about this movie is that you watch it without being force fed one kind of religion. It’s an understanding that there is a soul, there are beings, there are emotions, there are feelings, there is love, there is passion and that all exists post- accident, post-death, etcetera. I don’t know even know if that deals with life after death or whatever else. I think it just deals with these are incredibly real feelings and they do continue on in a sense. I don’t really know if that answers the question, but I think it kind of comments on it a little bit.

CUTLER: There’s a spiritual dimension to it and there are moments of the unknown. There’s that beautiful moment between Mia and Gramps at the bedside when she takes his hand and he looks her right in the eye and she says, “Gramps.” He can feel her in a way and we all know that experience. One of my favorite moments in the film is when we see spirit Mia standing up, overseeing the Labor Day picnic when everybody’s playing. It’s hard to explain it and yet it feels true in that kind of spiritual way that was very much in Gayle’s book, even though none of those specific moments were in Gayle’s book. That’s a perfect example of a kind of cinematic translation of the emotional experience of the book.

QUESTION: Book to screen adaptations have never been as plentiful as they are of late.

CUTLER: I mean it’s awesome! It’s awesome that Gayle’s book is the number one selling book in America, soon to be the number one selling book on Earth, I think. (Laughs) It’s awesome that new audiences are discovering it and now this audience is going to have the chance to discover the movie. It’s exciting. There’s a rich history of literature to film and they have an impact on each other. It’s certainly awesome to be seeing drama at the cinema and in films that have a relatively lower budget reaching broad audiences. The films of summer are a little different, you know? It’s a great, romantic dramas. What a great genre for there to be now and hopefully there will be more. I say, “Thumbs up!”

FORMAN: I also say “Thumbs up!” But I also think it speaks to an adaptation that gives you the emotional experience of the book, but then it gives you something else. If you’ve read the book and you liked the book, I think you’ll go to the film and take something completely new from it, for so many different reasons. You’re seeing the story in a different way.

QUESTION: It’s amazing how much the film’s soundtrack contributes to the emotional center of the film and not seem like it’s interrupting the momentum.

FORMAN: The music is something that for me just elevates it. It’s a musical, as far as I’m concerned. No matter how good somebody writes on the page, music is only music. First of all, the music in the film is fantastic to listen to, but you see Adam’s trajectory from playing these little clubs, getting bigger, getting bigger. You feel the energy in the room. When Mia has her Julliard audition scene, you see her virtuosity, but you also see emotionally what it does to her, how she is transformed as a musician. You see the two of them on these parallel paths, and then crossing. You understand the conflict in their relationship, but you see it in terms of the music and you hear it and that is something you just can’t do in a book. I think that you can have this experience in a book and you can have an adaptation and a translation that just opens it wide open. When I see a book to movie, that kind of a pairing, it’s what I want as a reader as well as a filmgoer.

“If I Stay” opens in select theaters on Thursday, August 21, going nationwide on Friday, August 22.