A story both deeply personal and tragically universal, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a heartfelt and funny story about friendship and coming of age.
The film follows Greg (Thomas Mann), a high school senior who has carefully existed among the all the various subset and cliques of teenagers. Upon the firm request of his mother, Greg visits Rachel (Olivia Cook) one day, a girl in his class who has been diagnosed with Leukemia. The two soon begin to form a curious relationship as they move through senior year where Greg is looking to go off to school and Rachel is simply looking to fight her illness and survive.
Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, who saw Greg’s experience as similar to his own when dealing with the passing of his father, the film doesn’t condescend, manipulate or sentimentalize. In fact, it’s a refreshing piece of cinema that our very own Dominic Mill called “truly earnest, truly heartfelt and truly beautiful” in his review.
Mann, Cooke and their co-star, RJ Cyler, recently visited Toronto for the film’s press day. While there, I landed an exclusive interview with them and together they spoke about shooting such emotionally difficult scenes and working with a dedicated director to create one of the most beloved films yet in 2015.
Check out what they had to say in the video above and be sure to catch Me and Earl and the Dying Girl when it hits theatres this Friday!
Published: Jun 10, 2015 07:13 pm