50 Fun Facts About The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Which word does Charlie use for how he feels riding with Sam and Patrick in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Infinite is the word Charlie reaches for on a night drive with a perfect song on the radio. It returns on the last pages, when he stands up in the back of the truck himself.

Which actress pitched The Perks of Being a Wallflower to Hollywood studios herself before playing Sam on screen?

Emma Watson flew to Los Angeles and met executives at the major studios after learning nobody wanted to fund the film. One of those meetings won the green light in January 2011.

Charlie assumes Sam and Patrick are a couple in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but how are they really related?

Stepsiblings is the answer the two seniors give, laughing, when Charlie asks how long they have been dating. He is relieved, because he already has a crush on Sam.

Which David Bowie song plays as Sam stands up in the truck in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Heroes took the place of the soft Fleetwood Mac ballad the novel uses, because the director wanted a driving anthem for the tunnel. The friends spend the film trying to learn its name.

Which TV channel's book imprint first published The Perks of Being a Wallflower through Pocket Books?

MTV Books published the novel, and by 2000 it was the imprint's best seller with 100,000 copies in print. School reading lists and a cult following came next.

During which party game does Charlie kiss Sam instead of girlfriend Mary Elizabeth in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Truth or dare turns sour when Charlie is dared to kiss the prettiest girl in the room and picks Sam. Mary Elizabeth storms out, and his friends keep away from him for weeks.

Which nickname sticks to Patrick in The Perks of Being a Wallflower after he objects to being called Patty?

Nothing was his own joke turned against him: he demanded his full name or no name at all, and classmates took the second option. Charlie first meets him under that name in shop class.

Which secondhand Christmas present does Sam give would-be author Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

A typewriter, old and well used, is Sam's present, and she types a request that he write about her one day. Charlie gives her a Beatles record that his aunt once gave him.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower keeps returning to the American Library Association's yearly top ten of what?

Most challenged books is the list, and the novel has made it in many years since 2004 for its candid treatment of sex, drugs and suicide. A Chicago-area school board voted in 2013 to put it back in classrooms.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is set in the suburbs of which city, the birthplace of author Stephen Chbosky?

Pittsburgh is where Charlie's freshman year plays out, and Chbosky filled the story with his own memories of growing up in its suburbs. He returned there to shoot the film in 2011.

Which actor plays letter-writing freshman Charlie Kelmeckis in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Logan Lerman took the part soon after first playing Percy Jackson. The surname Kelmeckis appears only in the film, since in the novel even Charlie is an alias.

Which actor plays Patrick, Sam's flamboyant fellow senior, in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Ezra Miller won the Boston Society of Film Critics' supporting actor prize for the part, straight after starring in We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Which comedy star plays Mr. Anderson, Charlie's English teacher, in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Paul Rudd plays the teacher who slips Charlie extra novels to read and essays to write. He joined the cast in April 2011, only weeks before filming began.

Charlie tells The Perks of Being a Wallflower entirely through letters to a stranger, making it which kind of novel?

Epistolary novels unfold through documents, and here every entry is a dated letter that opens with the same greeting. The reader never learns who receives them.

How did Charlie's beloved Aunt Helen die in The Perks of Being a Wallflower while out buying his birthday present?

A car crash took her life that evening, and Charlie has blamed himself ever since. Apart from his parents, only she bought him separate gifts for his birthday and for Christmas.

Patrick's secret boyfriend Brad plays which position for the school team in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Quarterback Brad is so afraid of being found out that he will only see Patrick in secret or at parties where the guests understand. Charlie finds out by walking in on them.

Which courtroom classic is Charlie's advanced English class reading as The Perks of Being a Wallflower begins?

To Kill a Mockingbird becomes one of Charlie's favorite reads of all time, and he likes to go through every assigned title twice. His teacher soon starts handing him extra novels.

Which drug does Charlie take at a party in The Perks of Being a Wallflower before police find him in the snow?

LSD brings on flashbacks of his late aunt that Charlie cannot shake. He never tells his family about the party, to keep his friends out of trouble, and swears off the drug.

What does Charlie eat at his first party in The Perks of Being a Wallflower that leaves him craving a milkshake?

A brownie baked with marijuana gets Charlie high for the first time, after he has already turned down a drink. Sam makes him the milkshake he asks for.

Which first name does Charlie's English teacher invite him to use in the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Bill is what the teacher prefers, and he marks Charlie's extra essays hard while still giving him As on his report card. At a farewell lunch he calls Charlie one of the most gifted people he has known.

Which school dance is Charlie's first date with Mary Elizabeth in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Sadie Hawkins dances have the girls do the asking, and Mary Elizabeth then talks through most of their first date. Charlie comes home that night to find his sister in tears.

Which Rocky Horror Picture Show character does Patrick play on stage in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Frank-N-Furter is Patrick's part, and he gives it up after the fight with Brad. He comes back for one last performance in the final week of school.

Which song by the Smiths does Charlie put twice on a mixtape for Patrick in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Asleep is one of Charlie's favorite songs, so it goes on his gift tape, One Winter, two times over. The film kept it, and the director said the band could have named any price but did not.

In the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which Fleetwood Mac ballad plays on the friends' drive through the tunnel?

Landslide is the song in the book, but Stephen Chbosky called it a very soft ballad and wanted an epic sound on screen. He chose a different track for the film.

Which 1980s hit pulls Sam onto the floor at the homecoming dance in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Come On Eileen, the Dexys Midnight Runners single, is the moment Sam approves of the DJ's taste. Stephen Chbosky calls it one of the greatest dance songs.

What do Patrick's piece-by-piece Secret Santa gifts to Charlie add up to in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

A suit arrives one piece at a time, from a tie and a white shirt to the jacket on the final night. Patrick's reasoning is that great authors always dressed that way.

Which older boyfriend of Sam is exposed as a cheat around prom night in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Craig had been unfaithful from the start, and it is Mary Elizabeth's new boyfriend who forces him to admit it. Charlie had once stood in for him on stage.

Sam heads to which university, where Charlie's brother plays football, in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Penn State wants Sam there in June for a summer program, which is why she leaves so soon after graduation. In the film Charlie tutors her to get the scores she needs.

Which TV show's finale leaves Charlie's dad crying alone in the kitchen in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

M*A*S*H had the whole family in tears, and his dad slipped out to make a sandwich so no one would see his. Charlie later buys him a tape of the episode for Christmas.

Which classic novel did Kirkus Reviews accuse The Perks of Being a Wallflower of ripping off?

The Catcher in the Rye was the comparison several reviewers reached for, though Stephen Chbosky said he was not imitating Salinger's style. Charlie himself reads it three times.

Where does Charlie spend the two months before the epilogue of The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

A mental hospital takes Charlie in after his parents find him sitting silent and unresponsive on the couch. Patrick visits often and brings him messages from Sam.

Who catches Brad and Patrick together in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and beats Brad for it?

His father walks in on the two of them and takes a belt to Brad while Patrick is too stunned to move. Brad returns to school days later and will not speak to Patrick.

Which Ayn Rand work is the last book Charlie's teacher gives him in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

The Fountainhead inspires Charlie to try writing fiction himself, though he stops after a single sentence. Instead of setting an essay on it, his teacher invites him home for lunch.

Which middle-school friend's suicide is Charlie grieving as The Perks of Being a Wallflower begins?

Michael was Charlie's only friend in middle school, and the counseling sessions that follow leave Charlie in tears. A poem Michael once gave him is read aloud at the friends' holiday party.

Which Vampire Diaries star plays Charlie's older sister Candace in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Nina Dobrev plays Candace, a name the film supplies because the novel never gives Charlie's sister one. She joined the cast in April 2011 while still starring in the vampire series.

Which actress plays Dr. Burton, who treats Charlie near the end of the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Joan Cusack, the voice of Jessie in the Toy Story films, plays the doctor who draws out what Charlie has repressed. She has two Oscar nominations for supporting roles.

Which actress plays Mary Elizabeth, Charlie's talkative first girlfriend, in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Mae Whitman had been on screen since childhood, in films such as Independence Day, and was known for Arrested Development. She signed on in April 2011.

Which actor's company, Mr. Mudd, produced the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower with its novelist directing?

John Malkovich and his producing partners had already made Ghost World and Juno. They won the rights by agreeing that Stephen Chbosky would write and direct the film himself.

Which 2017 family drama did The Perks of Being a Wallflower author Stephen Chbosky direct?

Wonder, about a child with a facial difference starting school, earned over $300 million worldwide. It was the first film Chbosky directed after adapting his own novel five years earlier.

Stills and GIFs from the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower flooded which blogging site in the early 2010s?

Tumblr was at its height when the film arrived, and feeds filled with GIFs of the cast and screenshots of its best-known sayings. The film has been a cult favorite ever since.

Which exam does Charlie tutor Sam for in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower so she can get into college?

The SAT is what stands between Sam and her first-choice university, and her scores climb with Charlie's help. Her thank-you present arrives that Christmas.

At which city's film festival did The Perks of Being a Wallflower premiere to a standing ovation?

Toronto hosted the world premiere on September 8, and the film opened in just four American cinemas two weeks later. It widened to a nationwide release in October.

Which Broadway musical did The Perks of Being a Wallflower author Stephen Chbosky adapt for a 2005 film?

Rent reached cinemas with a Chbosky screenplay and most of the original Broadway cast, to mixed reviews. He was already drafting a script of his own novel that year.

Which band's debut single played in the trailer for the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Imagine Dragons' It's Time helped sell the film in its trailer but never made it onto the soundtrack album. The band released their first full album later the same year.

Which future Succession star plays Candace's boyfriend Ponytail Derek in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Nicholas Braun went on to play Greg Hirsch in the HBO series and earn three Emmy nominations. In the novel the ponytailed boyfriend is never named, and his mixtapes end up with Charlie.

Which horror effects artist plays shop teacher Mr. Callahan in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Tom Savini is best known for the make-up and special effects in director George Romero's films, including Creepshow and Day of the Dead. Here he is the teacher Patrick impersonates in class.

A fan letter Stephen Chbosky wrote about which 1950s film inspired the letters in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Rebel Without a Cause was written by Stewart Stern, who tracked down the anonymous teenager a year and a half later and became his mentor. Chbosky credits Stern with making him a writer.

In the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which restaurant chain do Sam and Patrick take Charlie to after a game?

Big Boy is where the three go after the football game, with the two seniors peppering Charlie with questions over food. He goes home hoping he has found friends.

Which Beatles song, on a record from Aunt Helen, does Charlie give Sam in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Something struck Charlie as so beautiful that he vowed to give the record only to a person he found beautiful in every way. Sam hugs him and tells him she loves him.

Which author appears twice on Charlie's extra reading list in The Perks of Being a Wallflower?

Fitzgerald earns his two places with This Side of Paradise and The Great Gatsby, which Charlie reads in December. Charlie tends to declare each new assignment his favorite.