Logan Lerman takes on some heavy material as the troubled teen at the center of “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” based on writer-director Stephen Chbosky’s critically acclaimed young adult novel. Luckily, Lerman’s own high school experience — during which he was already a professional actor — wasn’t as heavy as Charlie’s.
Where did you fit in the social scene in high school?
Well, I wasn’t Charlie. I wasn’t as much of a wallflower. But a lot of my friends were like him, and I had a lot to draw from. I wasn’t very social outside of school, but I did know everybody. I was more interested in making short films and stuff like that. Most people weren’t.
You have some rather revealing costume moments when your character joins in with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
That was one of the scenes that kind of scared me. It was a challenging arc to figure out. I was a little nervous about the whole thing, but those nerves are fuel for all the prep that was so necessary for this film.
How was the atmosphere with your cast members, including Emma Watson and Ezra Miller, when you weren’t shooting?
When we weren’t shooting, we would just hang out all the time. We were living in this little wing of a Crowne Plaza in the middle of this mall in a residential area, all of us living in this one hallway. Our doors were open 24/7, and we’d just walk in and out of each other’s rooms, hanging out all the time playing music. We were like a little family.
Where do you go from here?
Fortunately now I’m in a place where I can kind of take my time, and all I want to do is work with filmmakers that I appreciate. Or take projects that I’m extremely passionate about. That’s all that I plan on doing.
Did you talk to Stephen about how much of this was autobiographical?
I didn’t ask. He’d offer insight a lot of the times, personal insight as to what the moment meant to him or what it was related to. It was very helpful. He knows this story. He knows every little detail of how he wanted to make it.
