Nicholas Sparks, Michelle Monaghan, James Marsden, Liana Liberato & Luke Bracey The Best of Me movie
one day we’re going to look back on this and baby I just want what’s best for my daughter so it’s going to end right now this was the last time you’re going to see me what would you say how has it changed for you now that your name has sort of become synonymous with with this type of Love Story not much you would be amazed at how little things are different uh in the end I I just try to write the best stories that I can and I try to um you and I try to tell a different story than I’ve told before I do have to put more thinking and into the type of story I want because I want to be original I wanted the best of me to feel utterly original compared to anything else that I’ve done even though there were certain parallels you might say oh well didn’t we do that in the notebook where they kind of get back together you want the answer to be yeah except like for the other 99 out of 100 differences yes they get back together but after that is different totally different questions and and themes and relevancies it was a bit of a journey for me I first read the script at home in Sydney and I put an audition down in in Sydney which is always really hard and confusing you never didn’t talk to the director you’re kind of just taking a real blind gamble a bit of a punt with with how you’re going to do it and I just I felt really fortunate they responded to it and I I flew back over here and and the next day we had our our chemistry read and we just got along really well it was very easy you know I think that’s the one thing you really look for when you’re coming into this kind of movie it’s got to be a real familiarity and and something you know that’s not forced at all and um yeah I mean I felt really fortunate that I got to be a part of this film you know to bring these loved characters to life had the opportunity to sit down with um lyanna and we were basically just trying to find little mannerisms or or things that I would do or that she would do um with the character I think fondling the necklace when we were nervous is one of the things but uh I also think an aspect that helped us both out is that the character is one way when she’s young she’s very vivacious and um effervescent and then as she is older um life kind of gets in the way and um she sort of lost that edge a little bit so it was about finding all those little um those little moments in her younger age and kind of um and sort of bringing those to the surface when she got older I mean there’s obvious there’s some obvious differences when you first meet each of them um but we you know I think naturally we all just kind of grow up having certain little ticks and stuff and we wanted to make sure that the audience saw that when they were watching the movie yeah I got to sit down with James as well and you know talk about accent and um yeah certain mannerisms but but also something that James and I wanted was um that space for him to grow as a person and to not be exactly the same as he was at an 18-year-old with all the life experiences he gets between um you know you know when we leave each other and when they come together again so yeah we still we wanted the similarities but we also wanted somewhere where they could have gone um in that space of time can I ask a nerdy question do you believe that there’s a Nicholas spark Cinematic Universe like is this the is is it like the Marvel Universe where like you could have the Avengers of all the Nicholas Sparks characters coming together I have I don’t know about that but I think that people kind of know what you mean when you say a movie with my name on it yeah thematically you know I think it’s always about love it’s about how love can sustain you through loss but what is so kind of miraculous that that Nick does and every time I read one of the books the new book I’m like he did it again he came up with a completely different situation concept story you know that character and characters and everyone you feel like God that could have happened to me or maybe that could happen to me they’re regular people and regular kind of situations and totally relatable and you know I don’t know how he’s done it 19 times or 17 I think 18 but I have ideas for uh 19 he always has a new idea you aren’t just someone I love back then you are over the very best of me [Music]
his Friday, Relativity Media and director Michael Hoffman invite you to experience The Best of Me, the latest big screen adaptation of one of author Nicholas Sparks’ recent bestsellers. Starring Liana Liberato and Luke Bracey as young lovers Amanda and Dawson, the story cut against their reunion 20 years later with Michelle Monaghan and James Marsden stepping into the roles.
ComingSoon.net sat down with the cast as well as Sparks himself and producer Denise Di Novi to talk about what it took to bring to the screen these parallel stories of the same love and the expanse of time between them. Check out the interviews in the player below and catch The Best of Me in theaters October 17.