Author John Green has sprung to the defence of Cara Delevingne after the British star of forthcoming teen romance Paper Towns was criticised for an awkward interview on US television.

Green, who wrote the source novel for the new adaptation, said presenters of morning show Good Day Sacramento had asked the young actor a series of “annoying” questions. The novelist, who also wrote bestselling teen weepie The Fault in Our Stars, also described the process of selling a movie as “inherently dehumanising”.

Green also hinted that subtle sexism may have played a part in the news anchors’ questioning, noting that Delevingne’s irritation began when she was asked if she had read the Paper Towns novel.

“Cara has read the book (multiple times), but the question is annoying – not least because her male co-star, Nat Wolff, was almost always asked when he’d read the book, while Cara was almost always asked if she’d read it,” wrote Green in a blogpost.

“Look, these are obviously the first worldiest of first world problems,” he added. “But the whole process of commodifying personhood to sell movie tickets is inherently dehumanising. The TV people want some part of you, and in exchange for it, they will put the name of your movie on TV. But in that process, you do lose something of your self.”

Green said actors and directors often developed standard responses in order to protect themselves from troublesome questions.

“Cara, however, refuses to stick to the script,” he said. “She refuses to indulge lazy questions and refuses to turn herself into an automaton to get through long days of junketry. I don’t find that behaviour entitled or haughty. I find it admirable. Cara Delevingne doesn’t exist to feed your narrative or your news feed — and that’s precisely why she’s so fucking interesting.”

The Paper Towns star had been told by Good Day Sacramento presenters to “go take a nap, maybe get a Red Bull” as they ended the interview early. Delevingne moved to defend herself on Twitter yesterday, posting: “Some people just don’t understand sarcasm or the British sense of humour”. She then followed it up with more tweets addressing the issue last night: