Nina Dobrev on The Perks of Being a Wallflower’s Universal Appeal

Nina Dobrev was one of many stars to appear in the 2012 coming-of-age film adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a movie she says has been beloved for so long due to its universal story.

Speaking to ComingSoon, Dobrev said that, even more than 10 years later, people still come up and talk to her about the film. She thinks that it has to due with the “universal” nature of the story, in that no matter how old you are, you’ve grown up and gone through puberty at some point.

“It’s pretty wild. I get a lot of people that approach me about that movie,” said Dobrev. “The story’s so universal, and whether you’re an adult, an older person, or a teen, we all went through puberty and had our coming-of-age moment. That’s what the movie’s about — sort of becoming a young adult and making that transition. It just deals with so many different themes. It’s a really great adaptation of a novel because the writer and director both captured the essence, the energy, and the beauty of the book and really translated it into the screen.”

The Perks of Being a Wallflower remains a cult classic to this day

Dobrev starred in the film alongside Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Mae Whitman, Kate Walsh, Dylan McDermott, Joan Cusack, and Paul Rudd. The film was originally released in 2012 and was directed by Stephen Chbosky, who wrote the original 1999 novel that inspired the movie.

Despite not being a smash hit at the box office, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is now considered a cult classic and is credited with being one of the defining films of the 2010s “Tumblr era” of social media.