Before 9 a.m. on Tuesday, a large group of John Green fans had already lined up outside the Old National Centre to secure a seat for the Paper Towns “Get Lost Get Found” event to happen later in the day.
More than 2,000 people from across the state (and even from other states) came out for a chance to meet John Green and two of the actors in the film adaptation of the book, Nat Wolff and Halston Sage (Cara Delevingne canceled last minute due to a delay on another project). (Check out our Q&A with the trio from the event.)
A lot happened in the short time the stars were in town. Here’s our list of fun items:
Autographs for everyone!
.@johngreen is here! #PaperTownsIND pic.twitter.com/Y7E2NUS5Sr
— Meagan Beck (@beckmeagan) July 14, 2015
More than 2,000 people came out to see the event, and while it was impossible for John, Halston, and Nat to meet everyone, they did their best. Before the event started, John ran around the barricades to sign for people near the back of the line.
Other local celebrities made appearances.
Great to see a few of our favorite @IndyCar drivers at #PaperTownsIND today! #LoveIndy pic.twitter.com/UHGT1Yu8bY — Visit Indy (@VisitIndy) July 15, 2015
Green is an IndyCar fan and supporter, so drivers Conor Daly, Sage Karam, and Josef Newgarden came out to support him. Colts offensive linemen Jack Mewhort and Anthony Castonzo also stopped by.
Nat and Alex Wolff performed three original songs.
pic.twitter.com/9Q6ePZU0R9 — Nat & Alex Wolff (@natandalex) July 15, 2015
Remember “The Naked Brothers Band” from Nickelodeon? They are grown up now—and wearing clothes. To start the event, Nat and Alex performed their own songs, including “Look Out,” which Nat wrote and was used for the Paper Towns motion-picture soundtrack.
“Good morning, Hank. It’s Tuesday!”
GOOD MORNING HANK ITS TUESDAY #PaperTownsIND #papertownstour @johngreen @PaperTownsMovie pic.twitter.com/webvm5oBgF — kiana (@papercutroye) July 14, 2015
For fans of the VlogBrothers, this phrase is not unusual. John came out onstage with his video camera and had the crowd greet his brother, Hank, for a future video to be uploaded on their YouTube channel.
July 14, 2015 will be known as John Green Day in Indianapolis.
Mayor Greg Ballard was introduced to the stage and thanked John for everything he has done for the city and congratulated him on his successes.
A screening of 19 minutes of the film. (This is just the trailer.)
Margo Roth Spiegelman (Cara Delevingne) needs to get revenge on the people who have wronged her. She recruits Quentin “Q” Jacobsen (Nat Wolff) to help her complete her masterful plans.
A Q&A session with John Green, Nat Wolff, and Halston Sage.
I’m at #PaperTownsIND and I found a bunch of cool people that are asking @johngreen questions today. pic.twitter.com/kZZ1FLlmq7
— Dakota Crawford (@DakotaCrawford_) July 14, 2015
The host, Akilah Hughes, and fans had the opportunity to ask questions that led to finding out a lot more about John, the actors, the movie, and the book.
John gave advice for young writers.
“Read a lot and read broadly” – @johngreen‘s advice to young writers at #PaperTownsIND — Kat Destroyer Coplen (@tremendouskat) July 14, 2015
John said that being a writer once seemed like becoming an astronaut. But he claims to be a “regular doofus” and that anyone could write a book. Aspiring authors should read often, read broadly, and read critically, he said.
Fun facts about the film.
One last clip from today’s #PaperTownsIND event. @johngreen on his favorite scene to be on set for. @IndyMonthly pic.twitter.com/goDZ6uvP4S — Alexa Goins (@AlexaGoins) July 15, 2015
John, Nat, and Halston shared some inside info about their characters and filming. John gave away which scene his cameo is in. Nat learned to drive for the movie because he did not have his license. (John also said Nat should not be driving because he is terrible.) They also shared that Austin Abrams, who plays Ben, learned to play clarinet like his character does in the book even though there is no scene of him playing.
Sarah Urist Green (John’s wife) helped plot the pranks in the book.
Couple tries to take picture in front of the Eiffel Tower, gets photobombed. https://t.co/HgpunW0Omb pic.twitter.com/R4vtOWYWYX
— John Green (@johngreen) June 17, 2015
John informed the crowd that he would ask his wife “what should Margo do next?” and she would give him ideas for the book.
» MORE:
John Green: The Third Degree
Q&A w/ John Green featured in the July 2015 issue