The movie tie-in edition of Gayle Forman’s If I Stay, which features a new interview between the author and the film’s stars, will be available on July 8th. The Wall Street Journal shared an excerpt from the interview with Chloe Grace Moretz (Mia) and Jamie Blackley (Adam).

"Gayle Forman: You’ve said that you really connected to Mia when you first read the book and script for If I Stay. Why was that?

Chloë Grace Moretz: Mia reminds of the girl I am–behind the acting, behind the this and the that, she’s me–this girl who is passionate and young and who wants to live life but is very driven. She knows exactly what she wants and how she’s going to get it. Mia was five or six when shefirst touched the cello and I was five when I started acting. I always felt very close to her in that sense.

Forman: Was there a scene that was the most emotional or challenging?

Jamie Blackley: When I speak to her in the hospital. I don’t know how long we shot that for, but it felt like forever. It was so exhausting.

Forman: That’s the scene where you plead with Mia to stay, and then you completely lose it. How did you summon that level of emotional intensity, over and over?

Blackley: I wrote a letter. I won’t say who it was to. But I’d read it in between takes and that would help me out. And I’d listen to a song that reminded me of something close to my heart."

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