‘Perks of Being a Wallflower’ Stars On Bringing a Beloved Book to the Big Screen (Video)

When a beloved novel gets the big-screen treatment, many fans are left disappointed with the new adaptation’s changed nuances and missing moments. But when The Perks of Being a Wallflower hits theaters Sept. 14, readers can rest assured that author/screenwriter/director Stephen Chbosky was involved in every step of the project.

PHOTOS: Emma Watson’s Grown-Up Glam

“The great part about this story, and I can’t remember a time that it’s happened recently, the writer of the book wrote the screenplay and directed the movie,” Johnny Simmons, who plays high school quarterback Brad, told The Hollywood Reporter at the MTV Movie Awards. “So the movie is going to be held by the same hands that wrote the book, so whatever artistic liberties he decides to take, it’s his book and his vision.”

Joining Simmons on the carpet was co-star Reece Thompson, who plays Emma Watson’s art school “douchebag” boyfriend, Craig, in the film. Though Thompson was only needed on set for two weeks, he tells THR that he opted to stay in Pittsburgh for the full duration of the three-month shoot.

“It was so much fun,” he said. “The experience of making the movie was so much fun that it doesn’t even matter how the movie turns out, because we had such a good time doing it. “

Not to say the actors weren’t committed to the quality of the film.

COMPLETE LIST: 2012 MTV Movie Awards Winners

“It was just such a group of dedicated people to this project,” said Simmons. “This book is so popular, so there’s a lot of people that are going to be kind of holding it up and everybody wanted to do justice by that. Everybody wanted to do their best job.”

Summit unveiled the first official trailer for the film prior to Sunday’s MTV Movie Awards. On Monday, the studio released all-new, never-before-seen images from the film. See the new stills below and click here to watch the full trailer.

Email: Sophie.Schillaci@thr.com; Twitter: @SophieSchillaci