Becky Albertalli

Don't be afraid of growing up and changing and getting used to these newer versions of yourself and becoming more comfortable sharing those versions of yourself with the people in your life, even people who knew you when you were younger.

I've worked a lot with kids who identify as LGBTQ or gender nonconforming, and they are unquestionably some of the bravest people I've ever met.

The Internet and social media can really be life-saving for some kids.

From a plot perspective, what I finally found for my touchstone was that I consider 'Upside' to be a loose telling of Jane Austen's 'Emma,' or 'Clueless.'

I don't set up screenings. I can barely plan my kid's birthday party.

It's really important to me to follow the kinds of conversations that happen around diversity and representation and writing inclusive books.

I like the idea of a broader range of people feeling seen.

Most people don't seem to know that I am Jewish.

Greg Berlanti is in charge of a lot of superhero shows on television. He is a literal superhero. He is absolutely brilliant.

Love is bumping along together with the people in your life and making mistakes and trying to make them right by virtue of the fact that these are people you actually love; you care about them enough to muddle through it with them.

One of the things that 'Love, Simon' is doing that hasn't been done before is it's a gay teen rom-com with a mainstream wide release and the backing of a studio that previous gay rom-coms have not had. I'm really excited by that.

You have this idea that Hollywood is all about making money and is very impersonal. But 'Love, Simon' is such a passion project for director Greg Berlanti.