John Green Didn’t Want A 'Turtles All The Way Down' Movie — This Is What Changed His Mind

Warning: This article deals with the topics of anxiety and other mental health subjects. It may be triggering for some readers.

When John Green wrote Turtles All the Way Down, he didn’t see how it could be adapted for the screen. Unlike The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns, he didn’t know if Turtles All the Way Down, which deals with complex mental health issues, would translate to another medium with ease.

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Turtles All the Way Down is a 2017 novel that explores the psyche of Aza Holmes, a 16-year-old girl who’s struggling with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and an anxiety disorder. Over the course of Green’s book, he uses spiralling, first-person, run-on sentences to convey Holmes’ panic attacks. He also uses italics to symbolise her intrusive thoughts.

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In one particularly dark moment, Holmes is trapped in a series of unending sentences. Her intrusive italicised thoughts keep interrupting her rational self, and there’s no place in her head to escape. 

Green has lived most of his life with OCD and anxiety, and he wanted to convey his mental health experiences in a way that felt honest and realistic. Speaking with BuzzFeed Australia, Green said he wanted to “challenge” himself to provide the reader with an understanding of what OCD actually is, rather than “what it’s like”.

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However, Green’s depiction of OCD is so entrenched in run-on sentences, italics, and a first-person perspective that he couldn’t see how it would translate to the screen.

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“This is a story that takes place primarily inside of one person's head, which is a notoriously non-visual place,” Green said. 

“And to translate such a book into a visual medium, so often when that happens, especially with OCD, is that the story ends up becoming this sort of freak show. The focus is on the compulsive behaviours that people with OCD use to manage their anxiety. And I really didn't want that. I was really worried about it.”

But these worries melted away for Green when he met with the director Hannah Marks. Beyond directing Turtles All the Way Down, Marks is best known for her directorial debut, After Everything, a story that depicts a young person dealing with a rare type of bone cancer.

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“When Hannah came in and pitched her vision for the movie, she brought with her a trailer of how she would do it,” Green recalled.

“And in watching it, I felt this, ‘Oh, this is exactly what it's like.’ What I was trying to do with words, she did with images and sound.”

Soon, Green was advocating for Marks to direct a theatrical version of Turtles All the Way Down, with the caveat that Green would retain creative control of how OCD would be portrayed in the film. For Marks, this scenario was a dream come true.

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“I had read the book and really loved it,” Marks told BuzzFeed Australia. “I was coming off my first movie and it felt like a great next step and opportunity for me.”

All of this brings us to 2024, the year that the Turtles All the Way Down film is premiering. Turtles All the Way Down stars Isabela Merced (Growing Up Fisher) as Aza Holmes, with Felix Mallard (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist) playing love interest, Davis Pickett.

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As a team, Marks, Merced, Mallard, and Green did a phenomenal job of conveying OCD in a visual medium.

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Marks uses clever cuts, soundscapes, and movement to bring Holmes’ panic attacks to life. Merced grounds these moments in reality with a gut-wrenching performance, and Mallard brings a lot of charm to the role of Pickett. 

Despite his initial doubts, Green is thrilled with the final film, and is particularly impressed with Mallard.

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“Shout out to Felix from Australia,” Green said. “Felix is a phenomenal actor and was so well prepared. He showed up on set with a notebook full of observations about The Tempest, which is an important text in this story.”

Green was also impressed with how the team handled the moments that surrounded his dive into Aza’s intrusive thoughts and panic attacks. There’s a lot of joy and laughter that can be found in Turtles All the Way Down. While Aza has OCD and an anxiety disorder, these illnesses don’t always define her life.

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“The truth of living with illness, with chronic mental illness, as I do, is that it’s hard,” Green said.

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“It’s a big part of my life. And sometimes it's the defining characteristic of my life. But I also have a really fulfilling life. We wanted, in both the book and the movie, for the audience to see the richness and fullness of Aza’s life. She’s not entirely defined by her mental illness. She instead has to learn to live with her mental illness, to take it seriously, and to treat it with consistency, in order to live a more fulfilling life. And that’s really the story that we wanted to tell.”

Marks is also pleased that her adaptation of Turtles All the Way Down contains a multifaceted depiction of mental illness.

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“The actors had an incredible understanding of both the script and the book, and they were dedicated fans like I was. So that makes my job a lot easier,” Marks said. “We definitely had conversations about finding areas of humour, levity, and fun… I also struggle with similar things to what Aza does, and I also have a great life. Capturing all of that was so important.”

Turtles All the Way Down is streaming on BINGE from 2 May.

If this article brings up any issues for you or anyone you know, or you think you may be experiencing depression or need support with your mental health, please contact your GP or in Australia, contact Lifeline (13 11 14), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) or Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636), all of which provide trained counsellors you can talk with 24/7.