He stuck very closely to the source material."
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What has it been like seeingOur Chemical Heartsthe book becomeChemical Heartsthe movie?
KRYSTAL SUTHERLAND:It is very surreal.
Credit: Amazon Studios; G. P. Putnam’s Sons
And so when it does happen, it feels wrong somehow [laughs].
But I’m super stoked that it looks like it’s real.
What was your level of involvement when it came to adapting the book into a film?
Amazon Studios
I had a really great relationship with Richard, the director.
He approached me early on in the process, and he and Lili really wanted to get this made.
It was really important for me to understand that this was somebody else’s creative project.
What did you think of the casting of Lili as Grace and Austin Abrams (Euphoria) as Henry?
The casting of Grace and Henry, that is just how I imagine them now.
It’s really grim and heartbreaking.
And then I remembered that I wrote this story.
I did this to these poor people!
you might’t ask for better than that.
Have you seen the film yet?
I watched it a couple of months ago.
A good strategy that I came across was that I didn’t reread the book.
What do you hope fans of the book take away from the experience of watching the adaptation?
The movie does a really good job of subverting expectations as well.
Its the climax of the story the fish are there on the front cover of the book!
What inspired you to writeOur Chemical Heartsin the first place?
I was a student at the time and I was going through my first real breakup.
And it just didn’t gel with the reality of what was happening in my life at the time.
That is so not true.
It just celebrates a different kind of love.
Chemical Heartsdebuts Aug. 21 on Amazon Prime Video.
