The perks of a Pittsburgher: Back home, Stephen Chbosky directs a film version of his novel
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Stephen Chbosky says people in Pittsburgh have been respectful during filming of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."
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Call it the perks of being a Pittsburgher. Or playing one in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."
Upper St. Clair native Stephen Chbosky, who is directing a movie version of his novel, gave his young stars "a crash course in Pittsburgh." He literally wanted to provide Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Nina Dobrev, Mae Whitman and others with the flavor of the city.
His book largely is set in 1991-92 -- a time of mix tapes, VCRs and fanzines rather than iPods, DVRs and Facebook pages or websites -- but some things never change.
"Being a teenager is still being a teenager, but they didn't know what Sarris chocolate pretzels were until they came here. They hadn't had chipped ham, and they hadn't had chicken paprikash, and they hadn't had cheese fries from the Original O or a sandwich at Primanti Bros.
"This was the homework that I gave them. Needless to say, they loved their homework," the director-writer said in an interview this week at a Pittsburgh hotel.
For the record, he was not "gingerly munching Chinese chicken salad," to borrow a passage from the book, which skewers fatuous interviews with untalented celebrities.
He is the real literary deal, celebrated for penning a poignant coming-of-age novel with 1 million-plus copies in print and comparisons to "The Catcher in the Rye" and "A Separate Peace." He also wrote the film version of "Rent" and co-created TV's "Jericho."
The boyish-looking 41-year-old, clad this day in jeans and a short-sleeve navy polo shirt, was sipping a diet Coke as he offered an apology to anyone who had to cool his heels -- and motor -- last week so "Perks" could film on the Parkway West and inside the Fort Pitt Tunnel.
"I would like to formally ask the forgiveness of my beloved hometown and to thank them for being so patient. But I think that when everyone sees Emma Watson flying out of the tunnel -- standing up on a pickup truck -- I think they'll agree that it was worth it."
Mr. Chbosky calls that sequence "a particular dream come true for me, in a whole series of dreams come true, which is what this movie is. I've had those images of the kids flying through the tunnel in my head for about 18 years now, and to finally have actually filmed it on Wednesday feels pretty fantastic."
First Published June 1, 2011 12:00 am
