Author Scott Westerfeld first published his book Uglies in 2005. Since then, it has become a best selling quartet series and is now a Netflix film adaptation! It’s not everyday that you get to talk to the author whose hit series turns visual, but before the release of Uglies on Netflix, we chatted with Scott to learn about his writing process in first creating the Uglies storyline and his experience on set working with the cast.
Uglies takes place in a futuristic dystopian society with enforced beauty standards, and Tally Youngblood, who is awaiting mandatory cosmetic surgery, embarks on a journey to find her missing friend. Joey King stars as Tally, Chase Stokes from the hit Netflix show Outer Banks plays Peris and Laverne Cox plays Dr. Cable. As part of the Uglies press day, we also talked to Brianne Tju who stars as Shay, Keith Powers who plays David and Jan Luis Castellanos who plays Croy.
Scott is the author of thirty novels. In addition to the Uglies quarter, he has written the Zeroes trilogy, Imposters series, and a retelling of World War I in the Leviathan trilogy, set to be an anime series on Netflix releasing in 2025. He also has multiple standalone works and has received numerous awards for both his adult and young adult stories.
“Everything is big and dramatic, [when you’re a teenager]. So to me, that makes it really fun to write in that world, everything is naturally a big story.”
Because Scott is an incredibly talented and experienced author, we asked him about his writing process and how that translates to seeing his work on screen. Scott revealed there are a lot of visual details about characters and their appearances that he didn’t necessarily need to think about when first writing the Uglies series. When arriving on set, he credited the talented crew tasked with creating the various landscapes and props to make the story come to life.
“There’s so much depth to the production design that doesn’t need to be in the book but it is fascinating to see that all unfold.”
While a lot goes into a character’s appearance on screen, Scott said when he first created Tally and the characters in his other books, he focused less on what they look like and instead figured out what it is like to be them, and their motivations for the decisions they make.
“When I first come up with a character, the most important thing to me is what do they want and what do they need and what are they willing to give up to get the thing they want.”
Seeing his work come to life on the big screen was nerve wracking, but Scott credited Joey King for her professionalism and kindness on set. When he was first pitching the movie idea to Netflix, Scott said Joey was already a huge fan of the series, having read it when she was younger, and advocated for the book to be turned into a film. Talk about a fan moment for both of them!
“It was amazing to see somebody [Joey King] with that kind of starpower talking about the book and telling Netflix why it needed to happen.”
Thank you, Scott, for chatting with Young Entertainment! Make sure to follow him on his Instagram at @scott_westerfeld. Watch the rest of the interview where we ask him more about his favorite scenes to come to life in the film and how he goes about writing intimate scenes. Fans of YE or those who are new, be sure to like and subscribe to our channel for the latest news in young entertainment.
Consider this:
- When you first start out trying to create a character, don’t focus so much on what their appearance will be but instead focus on who they are as a person and what motivates them.
- The best part about writing is you can redo and rewrite scenes as many times as you need. Don’t focus on perfection the first time around.
