''Looking for Alaska'' is an American
teen drama
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
streaming television miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
created by
Josh Schwartz
Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series ''The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known for ...
. It is based on the 2005 novel
of the same name by
John Green. After a film adaptation was repeatedly delayed at
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
,
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
finalized a deal and ordered an eight-episode limited series.
It stars
Charlie Plummer and
Kristine Froseth in the two lead roles Miles Halter and Alaska Young, respectively. The miniseries premiered on Hulu on October 18, 2019. It received acclaim from critics as well as fans of the book, with praise going toward its writing, acting and faithfulness to the original source material.
Premise
''Looking For Alaska'' tells the story of a teenage boy named Miles Halter who is obsessed with famous last words and seeking "the Great Perhaps", a concept inspired by the last words of poet
Francois Rabelais. This desire leads him to enroll at Culver Creek Academy in
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
, hoping to find something less boring and safe than the life he's always lived and gain a deeper perspective on life. At Culver Creek, he befriends his roommate Chip "The Colonel" Martin, who introduces him to Alaska Young, whom he later falls in love with, and Takumi Hikohito. Throughout his "new life" at the school, Miles learns many lessons about life, love, and the art of letting go.
Cast
Main
*
Charlie Plummer as Miles "Pudge" Halter, a new high school junior at Culver Creek Academy from
Orlando, Florida
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
*
Kristine Froseth as Alaska Young, the girl who catches Pudge's eye when he arrives at Culver Creek Academy
*
Denny Love
Denny Love (born Denzel Irby, circa 1993) is an American actor. His biggest roles were Barry on ''Empire'' and Chip "the Colonel" Martin in the miniseries ''Looking for Alaska''. He also had minor roles on ''Chicago P.D.'' and ''Lucifer,'' and app ...
as Chip "The Colonel" Martin, Pudge's roommate and friend
*Jay Lee as Takumi Hikohito, Alaska and The Colonel's best friend
*
Sofia Vassilieva as Lara Buterskaya, a Romanian girl that Alaska sets up on a date with Pudge
*
Landry Bender
Landry Bender (born August 3, 2000) is an American actress. She is known for playing the role of Cleo Bernstein in the Disney XD series ''Crash & Bernstein'', and playing Blithe Pedulla in the 2011 film ''The Sitter''. Bender played one of the le ...
as Sara, The Colonel's girlfriend and later ex-girlfriend
*
Uriah Shelton
Uriah Shelton (born March 10, 1997) is an American actor and singer. He is known for his television roles, such as playing Jeff Cargill on '' The Glades'', Josh on the web series ''Blue'', and Joshua Matthews on ''Girl Meets World''. Shelton was ...
as Longwell Chase, one of the wealthy kids known as the Weekday Warriors as they were able to go home each weekend
*
Jordan Connor
Jordan Connor Yuen (born 17 September 1991) is a Canadian actor. He plays Sweet Pea in the television series ''Riverdale''. He has also appeared in ''Looking for Alaska'', ''Hospital Show'' and ''Nurses''.
Early life
Connor was born in Calg ...
as Kevin, a member of the Weekday Warriors
*
Timothy Simons
Timothy Charles Simons (born June 12, 1978) is an American actor and comedian best known for his role as Jonah Ryan on the HBO television series ''Veep'', for which he has received five nominations and one win for the Screen Actors Guild Award f ...
as Mr. Starnes, aka "The Eagle", the headmaster of Culver Creek Academy
*
Ron Cephas Jones
Ron Cephas Jones (born January 8, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the drama series '' This Is Us'' (2016–2022), which earned him four consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning twice for Outstanding Gues ...
as Dr. Hyde, an elderly religions teacher at Culver Creek Academy
Recurring
* Meg Wright as Marya, Alaska's former roommate and best friend who gets expelled at the start of the new semester.
*
Lucy Faust
Lucy Faust is an American actress. Originally from New Orleans, she performed as part of the Southern Rep theater company, before making her name in ''Mudbound'', '' The Revival'', ''Looking for Alaska'', ''The Devil All the Time'', '' Midnight ...
as Madame O'Malley, the French teacher at Culver Creek Academy
*
Henry Zaga
Henrique Chagas Moniz de Aragão Gonzaga (born April 30, 1993), known professionally as Henrique Zaga, is a Brazilian actor.
Career
Henrique Zaga gained recognition early in his career, when he was cast as Josh Diaz in the MTV series ''Teen Wo ...
as Jake, Alaska's boyfriend who attends college
* Deneen Tyler as Dolores Martin, The Colonel's single mother
Guest
* Brandon Stanley as Paul, Marya's boyfriend who gets expelled at the start of the new semester
*
Rachel Matthews as Fiona, Jake's best friend
Episodes
Production
Development
The film rights to the novel were acquired by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
in 2005 shortly before the novel was published. The screenplay was potentially going to be written and directed by
Josh Schwartz
Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series ''The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known for ...
(creator of ''
The O.C.'')
but, due to a lack of interest by Paramount, the production had been shelved indefinitely. It had been reported that Paramount was putting the screenplay in review due to the success of the
film adaptation
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
of John Green's breakout novel, ''
The Fault in Our Stars
''The Fault in Our Stars'' is a novel by John Green. It is his fourth solo novel, and sixth novel overall. It was published on January 10, 2012. The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play ''Julius Caesar'', in which the noble ...
''. On February 27, 2015, ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' announced that
Scott Neustadter
Scott Eric Neustadter (; born 1977) is an American screenwriter and producer. He often works with his writing partner, Michael H. Weber. The two writers are best known for writing the screenplay for the romantic comedy film ''500 Days of Summer' ...
and
Michael H. Weber
Michael H. Weber (born January 13, 1978) is an American screenwriter and producer. He and his writing partner, Scott Neustadter, are best known for writing the screenplay for the romantic comedy film ''500 Days of Summer''. The film is based on t ...
, screenwriters for
Temple Hill Entertainment
Temple Hill Entertainment or Temple Hill Productions is an American film and television production company, established in 2006 by producers Wyck Godfrey
Wyck Godfrey is an American producer and executive. He is best known for producing ''The ...
who had worked on adaptations for ''The Fault in Our Stars'' and ''
Paper Towns
''Paper Towns'' is a novel written by John Green, primarily for an audience of young adults, and was published on October 16, 2008, by Dutton Books. The novel is about the coming-of-age of the protagonist, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen and his search fo ...
'', would be writing and executive producing for the film. Paramount was actively casting the latest version of the screenplay, which was written by
Sarah Polley.
Rebecca Thomas was set to direct. Green also confirmed that Neustadter and Weber were still involved with the film. In August 2015, it was announced filming would begin in the fall in Michigan. It was later announced that filming would begin in early 2016 because of lack of casting decisions. Later in 2016, Green announced in a Vlogbrothers video and on social media that the film adaptation had once again been shelved indefinitely. Green has voiced his frustration of the development process of the film adaptation over the years. He quoted, "It has always fallen apart for one reason or another." In May 2018,
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
finalized a deal with
Josh Schwartz
Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series ''The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known for ...
and
Stephanie Savage
Stephanie Savage (born 1969) is a Canadian screenwriter and television producer. Savage is best known for developing The CW's teen drama series ''Gossip Girl (TV series), Gossip Girl'' (2007) from the Gossip Girl (novel series), novel series, and ...
, and proceeded to order an eight-episode limited series based on the book. Schwartz served as executive producer and showrunner, while Savage served as executive producer alongside
John Green, Jessica Tuchinsky,
Mark Waters, Marty Bowen, and Isaac Klausner.
Casting
![Looking for Alaska cast and author](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Looking_for_Alaska_cast_and_author.jpg)
In October 2018,
Charlie Plummer and
Kristine Froseth were cast as the lead roles of the series, portraying Miles "Pudge" Halter and Alaska Young, respectively.
In March 2019, Hulu announced six new cast members had joined the limited series;
Denny Love
Denny Love (born Denzel Irby, circa 1993) is an American actor. His biggest roles were Barry on ''Empire'' and Chip "the Colonel" Martin in the miniseries ''Looking for Alaska''. He also had minor roles on ''Chicago P.D.'' and ''Lucifer,'' and app ...
, Jay Lee,
Sofia Vassilieva,
Landry Bender
Landry Bender (born August 3, 2000) is an American actress. She is known for playing the role of Cleo Bernstein in the Disney XD series ''Crash & Bernstein'', and playing Blithe Pedulla in the 2011 film ''The Sitter''. Bender played one of the le ...
,
Uriah Shelton
Uriah Shelton (born March 10, 1997) is an American actor and singer. He is known for his television roles, such as playing Jeff Cargill on '' The Glades'', Josh on the web series ''Blue'', and Joshua Matthews on ''Girl Meets World''. Shelton was ...
, and
Jordan Connor
Jordan Connor Yuen (born 17 September 1991) is a Canadian actor. He plays Sweet Pea in the television series ''Riverdale''. He has also appeared in ''Looking for Alaska'', ''Hospital Show'' and ''Nurses''.
Early life
Connor was born in Calg ...
.
The following month,
Timothy Simons
Timothy Charles Simons (born June 12, 1978) is an American actor and comedian best known for his role as Jonah Ryan on the HBO television series ''Veep'', for which he has received five nominations and one win for the Screen Actors Guild Award f ...
and
Ron Cephas Jones
Ron Cephas Jones (born January 8, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the drama series '' This Is Us'' (2016–2022), which earned him four consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning twice for Outstanding Gues ...
were announced to join the cast as The Eagle and Dr. Hyde, respectively.
In May 2019, it was reported that
Rachel Matthews and
Henry Zaga
Henrique Chagas Moniz de Aragão Gonzaga (born April 30, 1993), known professionally as Henrique Zaga, is a Brazilian actor.
Career
Henrique Zaga gained recognition early in his career, when he was cast as Josh Diaz in the MTV series ''Teen Wo ...
had been cast in recurring roles.
Filming locations
The series was primarily shot in
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
. Episode 1 offers a glimpse of the
Piggly Wiggly
Piggly Wiggly is an American supermarket chain operating in the American Southern and Midwestern regions run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Its first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable f ...
in
Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
. Miss Ann's Fast Food in
Amite pops up occasionally. The "school" the kids attend is really Solomon Episcopal Conference Center in
Loranger.
The
Audubon Zoo
Audubon Zoo is an American zoo located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is part of the Audubon Nature Institute which also manages Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, Freeport-McMoran Species Survival Center, Audubon Pa ...
's elephant sculpture shows up in Episode 6. The
Mandeville end of the
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (french: Chaussée du lac Pontchartrain), also known simply as The Causeway, is a fixed link composed of two parallel bridges crossing Lake Pontchartrain in southeastern Louisiana, United States. The longer of the ...
approach crops up in Episode 7. The
Abita Springs Town Hall plays a police station in Episode 8.
Distribution
In April 2020, ''Looking for Alaska'' was released in Canada on
CBC Gem.
Music
The
soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...
for the miniseries, titled ''Looking for Alaska (Music from the Original Series)'', was released digitally on October 18, 2019, via
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
and
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
. It is a
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
that consists of songs used in the miniseries.
Reception
''Looking For Alaska'' received acclaim from critics and readers of the book, with praises going towards its writing, performances (particularly that of Plummer, Froseth and Love), visuals, its soundtrack (with critics favorably comparing it to Schwartz's other series ''The O.C.''), directing, and improvements upon its source material. On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the miniseries holds a "Certified Fresh" approval rating of 91% based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Bittersweet and beautifully performed, ''Looking for Alaska'' is the rare adaptation that deviates from its source material only to find something even better." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, it has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."
Critics called the series Schwartz's finest series to date. Kathryn VanArendonk of ''
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
'' called it a "rare adaptation that dismantles the original in order to build something that works better" and praised Love's charismatic performance as The Colonel. ''
IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
''
's LaToya Ferguson graded the miniseries with an "A" and said, "''Looking For Alaska'' is your standard, tried and true, coming-of-age story. And for that, it stands out from the rest." She also praised Plummer's performance as Miles, saying that he "captures the milquetoast nature of the character (both the funny and frustrating aspects of that), while also finding a way to make your heart break for him."
''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
's writer Rebecca Nicholson gave the miniseries a 3 out of 5 stars and called the performances of the young cast "excellent" and
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
-worthy (most notably that of Froseth, Love and Plummer), and further praising the characterization of The Colonel.
Alan Sepinwall of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' gave the miniseries a 4 out of 5 stars and said, "It's a familiar coming-of-age story, but one executed at a high level and with far more thought than usual given to all the kids who were forced to grow up long before the main character has to". He also praised the cast as "exceedingly charming" and singling out the performances' of Froseth and Love. ''
Variety''
's
Caroline Framke
Caroline Framke (born 1988) an American writer and critic and is Chief TV Critic at ''Variety''. Formerly, she was a columnist at Vox and has contributed to ''The Atlantic'', ''The A.V. Club'', ''Flavorwire'', ''Complex'', ''Vulture'', ''Salon'' ...
also praised the cast (particularly Froseth and Love), while further highlighting the former's performance as Alaska, saying that "As Alaska, she has to portray a character alternately depicted as mysterious and vulnerable, flinty and fragile, wildly intelligent and crushingly naive. The series and Froseth take great and obvious pains to flesh Alaska out beyond the basic role of Miles’ first love, which could so easily flatten her into nothing at all". Petrana Radulovic of ''
Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
'' summarized the miniseries as "a messy, raw depiction of grief — ultimately, what the book was supposed to be about, and what the show captures better" and called Froseth's performance "brilliant". Daniel Fienberg of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' praised the performances of Froseth and Plummer, calling the former "a marvel" and highlighting the latter's ability to nail "a tougher task" for playing Miles successfully.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Looking For Alaska
2010s American drama television miniseries
2010s American high school television series
2010s American mystery television series
2010s American teen drama television series
2019 American television series debuts
2019 American television series endings
American teen drama web series
English-language television shows
Hulu original programming
Television shows based on American novels
Television series about teenagers
Television series by Paramount Television
Television series set in 2005
Television shows about death
Television shows filmed in Louisiana
Television shows set in Alabama
Works about driving under the influence