Logan Lerman Interview For ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’

‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ centers on 15-year-old Charlie (Logan Lerman), an endearing and naive outsider, coping with first love (Emma Watson), the suicide of his best friend, and his own mental illness while struggling to find a group of people with whom he belongs. Co-starring the likes of Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd, Dylan McDermott, Kate Walsh and Mae Whitman. Stephen Chbosky writes and directs the adaptation of his own highly acclaimed young adult novel of the same name. ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ is released in cinemas September 14th in the US and October 3rd in the UK. Look out for in-depth interviews with Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller for ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ next week.

Where do we meet Charlie at the start of ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’?

Logan Lerman: Charlie’s a pretty introverted young guy. He has some demons from his past that he’s trying to ignore and move on from. And he’s entering High School as a Freshman, he doesn’t have any friends, and his number one goal is to try to meet people and make friends. That’s kind of where we meet him in the film. Charlie ends up meeting this group of Senior’s that take him under their wing and introduce him to things he’s never seen before, and things he has never known about.

Thematically, how did you look at ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’?

Logan Lerman: ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ is a coming of age story. There’s a lot of universal themes in there, at its core it’s really a film about finding yourself, becoming comfortable with yourself and who you are as a person. There’s themes I think anyone can relate to, anyone who’s been to High School, anyone who’s remember’s finding them-self, growing up. And relying on your friends, you know?

What was it like working with Stephen Chbosky, someone who directed the film, wrote the screenplay, and wrote the novel that ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ feature film is based on? A person who knows this world and these characters inside out?

Logan Lerman: It’s rare that you have a novelist, the guy who wrote the book, the guy who wrote the screenplay, and the guy who’s directing. He hasn’t directed a film before, but the fact that he got permission to do that just shows he’s one passionate guy who’s able to convince a lot of people that he knows every little thing about the way that he wants to make it (laughs). Stephen was awesome.

Can you talk a little about Sam and working with Emma Watson as the character?

Logan Lerman: Sam’s one of the first friends Charlie makes in school. She’s also really inviting and sweet, and she brings him into this group of friends, his first group of friends in High School. And Charlie’s just in love with her, you know (laughs)? He’s in the friend zone, but secretly he’s in love with this girl. And Emma Watson as Sam, she did a great job in the movie and worked really hard to do the role justice. She’s just a really talented, smart young actress.

Then you’ve also got Ezra Miller as Patrick, I thought he was great….

Logan Lerman: Ezra’s really great, he brought a lot to the role – a lot of depth. He’s just extremely talented and wonderful to collaborate with. I was really fortunate to work with such a talented actor in that role. And the cast, it was full of really talented young actors! It was really fortunate to get such a good group of young actors for this film – we all got on so well, it was a tonne of fun. That was really important. And Stephen has a very specific eye and he sees a connection in all the characters, he knew what he wanted.