Gayle Foreman August 27, 2014

How my book If I Stay got made into a movie – in pictures

Teen author Gayle Forman gives us a guided tour through the movie of her bestselling book If I Stay, starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Jamie Blackley

If I stay: 1 Mia — It took six years for If I Stay to make it into production, and in retrospect, I’m grateful for the delay. Because had we shot in, say, 2010, Chloë Grace Moretz would’ve been too young to play Mia. In 2013, she was 16. The perfect age. And she was the perfect Mia. Perhaps because the two young women have so much in common. “[Mia] is passionate and young and wants to live life but is very driven and knows exactly what she wants and how she’s going to get it,” Moretz said. “I always felt very close to her.” Photograph: Doane Gregory/Gayle Forman

If I stay: 2 Park — One of the themes in the book is how pre-accident, Mia is being pulled in two directions: Julliard or Adam, music love or romantic love. Elevating that conflict in the film was a delicate balance. Because we had to show the pair battling it out, but to have that conflict rooted in love and anguish. It’s kind of beautifully painful to watch the young lovers try to figure it all out. Photograph: Doane Gregory/Gayle Forman

If I stay: 3 Kiss — In a film like this, chemistry is everything. You can have the best actors in the world but if they don’t have chemistry, something doesn’t quite click. From their first screen test together (which was a test for chemistry as much as anything else) Chloe and Jamie lit up the screen. On set, they became good friends. It really reads in the performances and makes the love story that much more grounded—and swoony. Photograph: Doane Gregory/Gayle Forman

If I stay: 4 Kim and Adam — Casting the part of Adam was a challenge. The actor had to able to portray the swaggery confidence of an up-and-coming rock star, as well as the sweet vulnerability that makes Adam Adam. Plus, he had to be able to play guitar and sing and do some serious heavy-lifting acting. The casting search resembled an international Idol: Actors on three continents going through rounds of auditions that included singing, acting, and guitar. Through it all, we found our Adam in an Englishman named Jamie Blackley. So, cheers for that, England. Photograph: Doane Gregory/Gayle Forman

If I stay: 5 Mia and cello — Music is everywhere in this film, indie, punk, and classical. You really get to see and hear both Mia and Adam’s musical trajectories. Mia’s Juilliard audition is one of my favorite scenes. She plays this beautiful piece—a Saint-Saën’s cello concerto—but it’s the transcendent look on her face. She is transported. The scene makes me cry every time. Photograph: Doane Gregory/Gayle Forman

If I stay: 6 The Band — From the start, the film’s director and producer were insistent that there be no fake musicians. Chloe began studying the cello months before the shoot began. Joshua Leonard, who plays Mia’s former punk-rock dad, took drumming lessons. But with Adam and his band, the filmmakers felt it essential that they all be musicians. Jamie Blackley sings and plays guitar and the rest of his band are musicians, most of whom had never been anywhere near a film set in their lives. Photograph: Doane Gregory/Gayle Forman

If I stay: 7 hospital corridor — In the film (like the book) the hospital scenes are interspersed with the flashbacks. But on a film, you shoot in chunks so the hospital scenes were filmed last. By that point the cast had all gotten to know one another so Mia’s loss felt all the more real. Adding to the intensity, the hospital scenes were filmed in an old sanitarium outside Vancouver. Naturally, the place was said to be haunted. Photograph: Doane Gregory/Gayle Forman

If I stay: 8 cycling with cello — The theme of sacrifice – particularly what parents give up, without a second thought, for their children – is a note that plays throughout If I Stay. In this beautiful sequence Mia’s parents (played by the wonderful Mireille Enos and Joshua Leonard) hear their young daughter practice (and practice and practice) her cello. There is a moment in the film, totally wordless, where you can see Leonard’s character making a momentous decision and sacrifice, culminating in this scene with the cello on his back. It’s another one that makes me cry, every time.
Photograph: Doane Gregory/Gayle Forman Photograph: Doane Gregory/Gayle Foreman

If I stay: 1 author photo — And now some fun for megafans. First of all you can ask Gayle Forman (here's she is in this photo) questions about her books and the film in one of her weekly QandA sessions.

Warning this is addictive: You can upload your own images and create a personalised version of the poster/ book cover!

Also check out the If I Stay Trailer. Let us know how you enjoy the film by emailing childrens.books@theguardian.com. Photograph: Gayle Forman

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