EXCLUSIVE: Nicholas Sparks on Having His Novels Adapted to the Big Screen

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of chatting with Nicholas Sparks about The Lucky One and what it's like to have so many of his books adapted into films.

Here's what he had to say on the matter:

The Lucky One hits cinemas this week and is another in an ever-growing number of your books adapted to the big screen. How involved were you in the adaptation process this time around?

Making films is a collaborative process and I'm certainly one of the collaborators on the creative aspects of the film, whether it comes down to helping to choose the screenwriter or giving notes on the screenplay, helping to select a director or even having input on the casting. The things I don't do are the studio aspects whether it's budgets, cinematography, things like that.

And are you happy with the end result?

Yeah! I thought The Lucky One was a very good sell. If you like films based on my novels, you will love The Lucky One.

How was it seeing Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling in the roles? Was it how you had envisioned it?

I thought Zac and Taylor were great. We wanted someone who was twenty-five years old or under because that's the average age of marines. We wanted someone who had an aura of being a nice guy and Zac is like that, Zac really has the aura of the character. We wanted someone who was really a great performer because we were going to saddle him with a lot of emotional stuff - you know, PTSD and all her issues. Then, of course, once you have Zac, what you're looking for is chemistry with Zac. Taylor not only had chemistry with Zac but she has a lot of emotional depth as an actress and it was good!

Check out Novelicious to see the full interview.

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