John Green’s beloved 2017 novel, Turtles All the Way Down has been adapted into an emotional teen drama coming soon to Max.
Isabela Merced stars as Aza Holmes, a teenage girl who is constantly plagued by intrusive thoughts, all while discovering her identity. Merced, who recently graced the silver screen as Anya in Madame Web, shared how she uses her own experiences with anxiety to inform her portrayal as Aza.
“As somebody who suffers from anxiety, not OCD, I still related heavily to Aza, said Merced. “And I think it speaks to everyone. And even if you don’t have any sort of struggles with mental illness,” said Merced.
“These things sometimes cannot be explained through words Sometimes they have to be shown and I think this movie does a great job at it,” said Merced.
Merced plays alongside fellow Nickelodeon alum, Cree (Cicchino) who portrays Daisy, Aza’s spunky best friend. Daisy ultimately discovers how challenging it can be to have a friend with such a debilitating condition.
Cree shared how she saw the downside of this kind of friendship, citing the dilemma of how Daisy does receive the same amount of support from Aza, as she gives to her.
“The most important aspect of Daisy as a character and her, you know, function in the story..is this part of her that, that sort of steps away from the very comfortable, classic, sort of like beloved energy of being the, you know, the funny best friend, “said Cree.
“If you split off from Aza’s POV and go in any of our directions, we have our own story…where Aza’s function in our story might not be as loving and supportive as we are in hers, which is a really uncomfortable thing to say,” said Cree.
In my opinion, no great coming-of-age drama is complete without a love interest. Felix Mallard stars as Davis, Aza’s childhood friend, who’s father has recently gone missing. When Aza hears this news, she decides to rekindle her friendship with Davis, leading to a budding romance.
Mallard, who is best known for playing Marcus Baker in Netflix’s Ginny and Georgia, is no stranger to playing the romantic lead. He shared how his character discovered the need to find balance in his relationship, as Aza’s mental illness causes tension between the two characters.
“I really love that Davis and Aza are kind of the two sides of the same coin.,” said Mallard. “As different as they are, they’re both really kind of wanting the same thing. Aza wants to be seen for more than her mental health struggles. She wants to be seen for the woman she is…and similarly, Davis is, is incredibly lonely,” said Mallard.
“He’s very isolated. He is surrounded by wealth. He has everything he could ever want and nothing at the same time. And all he wants is a connection,” said Mallard. “…He just wants to be known for who he is,” said Mallard.
Turtles All The Way Down will begin streaming May 2 on Max.
