John Green & Turtles All The Way Down Director Hannah Marks On Adaptating With Intent

Summary Turtles All The Way Down explores OCD authentically, offering hope and understanding for those dealing with mental health struggles.

Director Hannah Marks skillfully brings Aza's inner thoughts to life visually, capturing the complexities of OCD and mental illness.

John Green's story highlights the possibility of living a fulfilling life with mental illness, challenging stigmas, and offering a message of hope.

Turtles All The Way Down director Hannah Marks and author John Green open up about tackling OCD and adapting the infamous young adult novel to screen. In the last couple of years, the world of television and film has seen Green's novels be brought to life with Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, and The Fault in Our Stars. Published in October 2017, Turtles All The Way Down is now making its way onto Max as one of the latest original films and marking another adaptation of Green's work.

Starring Isabela Merced as Aza Holmes, Turtles All The Way Down explores a teenager's mental health struggle with OCD while also trying to navigate the everyday life of being in high school. Directed by Marks, Turtles All The Way Down also stars Cree as Daisy Ramirez, Ginny & Georgia's Felix Mallard as Davis Pickett, and Judy Reyes as Aza's mother, Gina Holmes. Green serves as an executive producer on Turtles All The Way Down, as it focuses on one of his personal stories.

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Screen Rant recently interviewed Marks and Green about tackling a heavy story like Turtles All The Way Down, and bringing more representation of OCD to Hollywood. Throughout the interview, Green spoke about his own experience living with OCD and how he, along with Marks, hopes it gives a lot of takeaways for the audience.

John Green & Hannah Marks Preview Turtles All The Way Down

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Screen Rant: As someone who has family members with OCD, this was a very powerful story, so you guys did a very beautiful job tackling this in a time where we're seeing a bigger focus on mental health more than ever. What was important for you to add to the conversation with this film and the story?

John Green: When I was writing the book, I was thinking about how so many representations of OCD - which I've lived with for my entire life - so many of the representations in movies and books either romanticize it like it's a disease that comes with superpowers, like Sherlock Holmes, who is a terribly troubled, but also a brilliant detective, or stigmatizes it. There's a focus on the, 'Look at this freakish person with the freakish compulsive behavior they use to manage their anxiety!' and I really wanted to try to tell what I've experienced to be the true story of OCD, which is a lot more complicated, and a lot less simple and straightforward, and in some ways, less visual. One of the things that really made me nervous about turning this into a film was that so much of the book depends upon the interiority of Aza's consciousness, and I don't know how you make that visual. But then, fortunately, Hannah Marks does know how you make it visual and did a brilliant job and made a really special movie. Hannah Marks: Thank you so much to both of you. I'm glad that you felt like the representation was well done, so thank you!

Hannah, when dealing with all of Aza's inner thoughts and what she thinks is happening to her body, how did you approach that as a director? Because those are very huge scenes to tackle in general.

Hannah Marks: Definitely. It all starts on the page and John's book was so incredible, and already something I related to so deeply, I love Aza and have so much compassion for Aza, because I really have seen her in myself at different times in my life. Now as I've gotten older, I really relate to the other characters in the story and the people that surround her and just trying to keep in mind all of the characters in there, and their own journeys while directing while also mixing that with the microscope footage and the rhythm of the cuts and the music and the sound choices, to really make it feel like Aza's brain and feel in the world of the story that John created.

The Importance Of Understanding OCD In Media

John, I'm gonna go back to what you were talking about, about how other media, for example, romanticized the idea of OCD. What do you, for people who may not be as familiar with OCD and really this type of mental health struggle, hope that they take away from this story?

John Green: Well, I think, in my opinion, any story that tells the truth of mental illness is a hopeful story. Because the truth is hopeful there is cause for hope, there is treatment, people do get better. That's the main thing that I want people to take away is a sense of hope. But I also want them to take away a sense of the reality of suffering and how challenging psychic pain can be. It's a really funny movie. It's a fun movie, we wanted it to be a really great experience. But what I hope people take away is that psychic pain is real. It doesn't define you. It's not the only thing in your life, if you experience it, but it is really real and really powerful.

I was wondering if I could ask us about the ending when it comes to Daisy telling Aza about the kind of life she will have. Are we supposed to interpret that as what is going to happen, or is that just what is imagined in her head? Because I was really wondering what you're going with here and if it's supposed to be open-ended or not.

John Green: It was supposed to be open-ended; I think we're supposed to not be sure if this is Daisy's prophecy or a future Daisy calling back to Aza. Is that fair? Hannah Marks: I mean, to me, it's more one possibility for her future and reminding her that just because there's bad there will also be good. I think it's showing that life is filled with both happiness and sadness, and that's okay. That's what makes it full. To me, it's one possibility for her future. But there are many possibilities because she doesn't need to be limited. John Green: That's ultimately the argument I wanted to make in the book is that you can live with serious mental illness, as I do, as I have throughout my adult life, and also have a really fulfilling rich life. Those experiences aren't mutually exclusive. There have certainly been times when it's been difficult for me to enjoy or appreciate or be fully part of life in the ways that I want to be. But that doesn't mean that I don't have a full life.

Adapting More Of Green's Books To The Screen & What Is Next For The Duo

Image via Max

John, you've had so many of your books adapted to screen. Is there another story that you're hoping to see come to life at some point or that you have in the works?

John Green: Oh no, I'm good. I feel like it's gonna be hard to top this experience. My new book is a nonfiction book about the history of human responses to tuberculosis, so I'm not sure that Hollywood would be beating down my door for the adaptation rights to that one! [laughs] Hannah Marks: But John knows, however, that I have raised my hand. I have not read it [but] I will direct anything that John asks me to. He's actually actively not asking me, but I would love to be a part of it!

Hannah, what do you have coming up that we can look forward to seeing?

Hannah Marks: I have a movie called Razzlekhan, which I have not filmed yet, but I have written, and it's based on a true story of a real heist that happened recently, John Green: The biggest heist of all time! Hannah Marks: It is the biggest heist of all time, due to the nature of cryptocurrency but it's kind of a wild world that I've started learning about, and I'm endlessly fascinated by it. [laughs]

About Turtles All The Way Down

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TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN tackles anxiety through its 17-year-old protagonist, Aza Holmes (Isabela Merced). It’s not easy being Aza, but she’s trying... trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, and a good student, all while navigating an endless barrage of invasive, obsessive thoughts that she cannot control. When she reconnects with Davis, her childhood crush, Aza is confronted with fundamental questions about her potential for love, happiness, friendship, and hope.

Check out our other Turtles All The Way Down interviews here:

Turtles All The Way Down premieres exclusively on May 2 only on Max.

Source: Screen Rant Plus