The former supermodel gives us the ultimate tips for thesping out and eschewing the MPDG trope
Swapping selfies for celluloid, Cara Delevingne is a cinematic dream: a supermodel worthy of an IMDb page. In Paper Towns, she excels in her first leading role as Margo, a literal girl-next-door who shakes up the life of her neighbour Q – played by coming-of-age icon Nat Wolff.
Based on a paper book by John Green (author of weepy The Fault in Our Stars), Paper Towns invokes the adrenaline rush of adolescence and subverts the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope. No mean feat. After Margo drags Q along for a wild night of frighteningly elaborate revenge against a cheating ex, she vanishes and leaves a trail of clues. But before doing a Gone Girl, Margo offers this advice: “Here’s a tip, Quentin. You’re cute when you’re confident, less when you’re not.” For more wise words, we went straight to Cara, Nat and John.
IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO DROP A FAT BEAT
“Don’t be shy,” Delevingne insists. “Let it all out, because everything goes. Me and Nat always liked to jam around, especially on set. I’d just drop a beat and Nat would have a bit of a freestyle. One of the first times we met, we went on the rooftop and played each other the guitar and songs we’ve made up.”
“She plays a little guitar and I’m in a band.” Wolff adds. “I played a couple Beatles songs. She was playing this song, ‘Birds can fly so high, and they can shit on your head.’ It was really pretty.”
LIFE IS A WATERSLIDE, JUST GOTTA RIDE IT
Wolff somehow hadn’t heard of Delevingne when she walked in for a chemistry read. He admits, “I looked her in the eyes and was like, ‘I’ve got a poster outside my apartment with you and Kate Moss hugging half-naked. I’ve walked my dog past you a million times.’” Then she took her shoes off. “She was basically Margo and put me on edge.”
Like Margo, she’s impulsive. “We were doing a scene and staring at each other,” Wolff recalls. “She had a line. ‘Quentin—’ We’re outside and she kind of looked off and goes, ‘Is that a waterslide?’ There’s a waterslide in the distance, and she ended up buying us tickets for the waterpark, and we went on waterslides all day.”
TO ACT SAD, REMEMBER THAT YOU REALLY WERE SAD
“I felt more like Quentin when I was 12 or 13,” Wolff reckons. “Listen to music you listened to when you were in middle school and heartbroken. Look at videos of yourself when you’re going through your super awkward phase with braces and curly hair.” But some memories are plain embarrassing. “Don’t wear fedora hats. That was a mistake.”
PLAN YOUR ROAD TRIP BY NOT PLANNING IT
“I’d love a spontaneous road trip where you’re underprepared and have to make it up as you go along,” says author John Green. A contradiction, perhaps, but Green has thought it through. “Those are the most exciting and the most fun. You’ve got to find the exact right people, people that you don’t mind being stuck in a car with 16 hours a day, and focus less on surprise and more on the people you’re with.”
What albums to bring? For Wolff it’s The Beatles’ Rubber Soul (“not an actual rubber soul”), while Green picks Tallahassee by the Mountain Goats. “I would like to go with someone who’s a better driver than I am,” Wolff confesses. “That’s also good advice,” Green confirms. “He’s a terrible, terrible driver.”
TEENAGE DETECTIVES, DO YOUR HOMEWORK
Rather than consult Scooby Doo, Wolff found inspiration in the classics. “We do these voices in the movie,” he murmurs with a decent Humphrey Bogart imitation. “I love detective movies. I’ve always wanted to be a detective. That came from The Big Sleep, Chinatown and Double Indemnity.” What did he learn? “Check out your doorjambs, and don’t forget your flashlight.”
Did Cara ever disappear from set and he had to take a road trip looking for her? “Actually, when we did a lot of the road trip scenes,” he laughs, “she had to fly to do some modelling. It was almost like she was gone and we were trying to find her.”
Paper Towns is out in cinemas Monday 17 August