Following Tuck Everlasting‘s debut, stars such as Alexis Bledel and Ben Kingsley continued to find success in the entertainment industry.
The fantasy drama, which premiered in 2002, was based on the book of the same name by Natalie Babbitt. The film explored the topic of immortality by introducing Winnie Foster’s (Bledel) adventures with the Tuck family.
According to director Jay Russell, it was important to honor the main message of the original story.
“One of my early discussions with the author was that I said I’m not going to literally translate your book. First of all I don’t think you can do that. And secondly I think it’s a mistake because then you’re competing with the readers’ imagination because everyone who reads the book is making their own movie — and I can’t compete with that,” he said during an interview with Crosswalk in October 2002. “So I said, ‘My film is going to be based on your book and I’m going to try and capture those themes and ideas that are so important to your book and I’m going to try to get that into the movie. But no, I’m not going to translate your book.’”
Russell also praised Tuck Everlasting‘s ability to start a discussion among its audience, adding, “I think there’s a misconception that kids aren’t interested in movies that are thought-provoking and have themes that are rich. I think that’s wrong because I’ve sat with kids in previews and you have those worries that kids are never going to sit through a movie that doesn’t have explosions or car chase scenes, but they do.”
He added: “They’ll sit and enjoy this kind of movie. I mean you could have heard a pin drop in the screenings I sat in. And then again, the debate afterwards — that’s exciting. That means that kids hunger for thought-provoking movies, and I like that.”
Bledel, for her part, reflected on the work that came with relating to her character’s journey.
“I think the love story in the film – it’s a pretty universal desire, that people want to fall in love, and I think it’s a pretty classic love story in this film, that will appeal to kids as well as adults,” she told IGN in 2002. “Besides that, I think that most teenagers can relate to Winnie, because she’s sort of a timeless character in the sense that she just wants to escape the control of her parents, and I don’t know any teenager that doesn’t want that.”
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