Ansel Elgort talks to The Guardian

Ansel was recently interviewed by the guardian, here are some of our highlights:

(remember to read the full article here)

On crying during TFIOS:
 "Yeah, of course," he shoots. "Big time. The first time I cried was I think ..." He chews a cookie while he thinks. And then: "Well, I cry whenever I watch an emotional scene that I did, just because it brings me back to that moment. It's like I remember being there, I remember feeling what I felt. It's really weird, right?"

On feeling lucky to be healthy after leaving a TFIOS screening:
"There are so many things to be lucky for," he agrees. "Lucky to be healthy, lucky to be, like, beautiful. Lucky to be living in America. It's like: what the fuck. It's crazy. I feel like I have more luck than 99.999% of people in the whole world." A pause. "I'm a lucky fuck."

On playing alongside Shailene:

"Shailene," he says, "is a very different person to most people. She's very unique. She has, some would say, odd ways of living." Like what? "Like she eats only certain types of food, she cooks a certain way. But the nice thing was that she was able to speak about life spiritually and I think at that point in my life – I was 19 – I'd never thought about any of that kind of stuff. So I was like: wow that's interesting. I'd never talked to anybody like that but I guess Shailene talks to her friends like that all the time."

"Shailene and I share a certain love," he says, "but it's a friendship love." This, he thinks, is also what their characters in this new film enjoy. "I think it's more than a love story, it's like the opposite of Romeo and Juliet – it's not lust; it's real love. And, y'know, they have sex just because they're in Amsterdam and are probably never going to have sex otherwise – so let's do it, I guess. But really, they're there just because they love each other. That's why it's refreshing because it's not, like, cheesy luurve."

On his online reach:

"It's important power, because there are some celebrities who have millions and millions of people following them and they don't lead by example. I think one of the best people on Twitter is John Green [author of The Fault in Our Stars]. He leads by example and he encourages millions of people to do good things. And there are people who don't, and it's a waste, y'know? I look to John as a role model and whenever I'm unsure of something I'm like: 'Would John tweet this?'

On being a role model:

"I'm happy to be a role model because I think I can do it over other people. I think my parents raised me well. And I'm pretty straight edge. All my friends make fun of me for being straight edge. Like we go out and I'm not really drinking. But they understand why – I'm doing really well, I'm really focused always on the prize. I want to keep creating and making important things and that's what I want Ansel Elgort to be about."

 

On being ready for the kind of attention Robert Pattinson gets:
"I don't compare myself to anyone, but yeah, in certain ways it's really nice because a lot of people like Robert Pattinson. I think I'm a lot more ready than a lot of people. I'm willing to hopefully encourage people to do good things." Fame at this pitch holds no fears for a man apparently allergic to anxious introspection. Or, perhaps, just a 20-year-old self-aware enough to know he's on top of the world. And making the movie did change his perspective, he says. Sometimes, luck runs out. "I think one of the biggest things is that … it just happens." "It", of course, being cancer. He quotes the film – "The world is not a wish-granting factory" – then sits back. "That's how it is. It could happen to anyone, y'know? As young people, we think we're invincible."