As we mentioned earlier in the week, Forever Fest hosted an advance screening last night of The Fault In Our Stars, followed by a Q&A with John Green and director Josh Boone. The screening was held at Alamo Drafthouse locations all over the country, but in Austin, we were lucky enough to hang out with John and Josh IN THE FLESH.
Which means I AM STILL FREAKING OUT. BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED:
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Since we knew folks would be lining up early to get into the screening, we invited our favorite local nail artist, Nails Y’all, to give people free TFIOS manicures while they waited. Everyone’s nails were totally okay, okay!
Besides manis, the best way to kill time is with cocktails, as demonstrated by members of the Austin FYA Book Club. (Of course.)
Finally, it was time for the screening to begin, and the audience was welcomed via video by Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort!
won’t be able to share my review of the film until the actual release date, but rest assured, it’s absolutely wonderful and incredibly true to the book. In other words, YOU WILL LOVE IT. The audience last night certainly did– I’ve never seen so many happy people with puffy cry faces before! The Alamo also surprised everyone by serving champagne (and sparkling cider for the young’uns) so they could drink along with Hazel and Augustus in Amsterdam. Later, John Green mentioned that one of his favorite parts of watching the film with the audience was hearing everyone’s glasses clink as they toasted with Gus and Hazel. Cheers!
After the film, I moderated a Q&A (along with Brandy, my Forever Fest partner) with Josh and John that was live streamed to all of the Alamo theaters. I still kind of can’t believe it happened, in spite of this video proof:
No surprise, John and Josh were incredibly charming, and the Q&A was an absolute BLAST. A few of my favorite moments:
– John acting out his cameo (that got axed from the film) with Brandy and me.
– The fact that, on the day of the sex scene shoot, Shailene walked on set wearing a green screen suit as a joke.
– The image of John and Shailene hugging each other and watching Ansel and Nat play the piano together after filming the eulogy scene.
– The fact that Nat Wolff gave Josh a copy of the book, which is how this whole movie got started.
– John getting acting advice from a six-year-old.
As a swimfan, I also feel the need to tell you that, before the Q&A, John Green wanted to touch my hair (I’ve got tinsel in it):
But I think my #1 favorite part of the evening happened at the very end, when we all headed outside to make like Isaac and egg the crap out of a car! John and Josh did a trial run earlier in the evening, which is when we discovered that John had actually never egged a car before. (His aim made this clear as well– he accidentally hit a fan, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so happy to get splattered with yolk before.)
After watching that scene in the film, when Gus and Hazel help Isaac egg his ex-girlfriend’s car, it felt strangely magical to see a hundred people lobbing eggs at a vehicle. And, as Isaac can attest, it was definitely therapeutic.
That car didn’t stand a CHANCE, y’all.
The entire evening felt like a dream, but I’m so glad that it happened in my little infinity.
Okay? Okay.
All photos by Annie Ray Photography
