‘The Fault In Our Stars’ Author John Green Says Star Shailene Woodley Made Him Cry

The Fault in Our Stars is already an emotional journey as a young adult novel, so when author John Green was looking for his leading lady, it proved to be a very emotional experience for him. During an interview with the AAP, Green recalled just how lead actress Shailene Woodley made him cry.

At first, Green explains he had no idea who Woodley was, and when she wrote him a letter expressing her interest in the novel and the role, he brushed her off and gave her a curt response.

Woodley said of her original intentions when she wrote that letter about The Fault in Our Stars:

“I wanted to make sure this movie was made because my life was transformed by reading the book and the script. I could only imagine how many lives it would transform if it was to be a film.”

The author rehashed his response back to Woodley, “I responded like, ‘That’s very flattering but I’m not a casting director.’ I didn’t really understand who she was.” Luckily, that soon changed for John Green and he realized that Shailene had the chops to take on the role. When he realized she was the one for the role, Green was overcome with emotion.

When the Fault in Our Stars author saw Woodley’s audition tape he recalled how he immediately responded to it. Her audition scene featured a pivotal line in the book, “Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.”

After that Green was sold on Shailene for the lead Hazel Grace.

“Oh, it just gutted me. I was blown away. I was in tears and just so grateful that she had even auditioned for it. I knew it then she was going to be the perfect Hazel.”

In a separate interview with Vulture, the author painted a whole other scene on what the audition process was like for Hazel, particularly right before he saw Shailene’s tape. As the story goes, he was less than enthusiastic in seeing it.

“I got a call, I had seen a lot of auditions, they were nice to share that with me, but they called me before and said, “We think you’re going to love it.” And that actually put me in a space of not wanting to like it, just because I’m contrarian, I guess? But I watched and it was perfect. It was Hazel.”

For those who aren’t aware, The Fault in Our Stars is about two teenagers who meet at a cancer support group and quickly begin to fall in love with each other.

The Fault in Our Stars hits theaters on June 6.

[Image via 20th Century Fox]