The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary

By: Julia KirkpatrickJeff Kinney

Switching!

In each chapter (beginning, middle, end) it will be in a different design! Get ready for lots and lots of crazy things!

A Wimp Is Born

Greg Heffley was created in January 1998 in a small apartment in Massachusetts. There wasn’t much to him, really. He was just a little pencil doodle in a cheap sketch pad.

One month later, Zachary Gordon was born on the other side of the country, in California! At that moment, Greg and Zach didn’t really have a lot in common.

A Wimp is Born (cont.)

But eleven years later, the two would come together when Zach was chosen to play the part of Greg in the live-action “Diary Of A Wimpy Kid” movie.

This book-review is the story of how a little idea got turned into a major motion picture, and how a fictional character became a real boy.

Making it Real

Zach wasn’t the only one thinking about making “Diary of A Wimpy Kid” into a movie, it turns out a few people in Hollywood were thinking the same thing. But everyone had a different idea of what the film should be.

One word: Puppets

One word: Puppets

Greg and Rowley save their school from aliens!

Greg and Rowley save their school from aliens!

Making it Real (cont.)

A lot of people wanted to make big changes to the story and the characters. But finally, one movie studio came up with an idea that worked. The idea of a live-action version of “Diary of A Wimpy Kid” raised some questions. How would fans of the book feel about Greg being played by a real actor? And would he look as they thought he would? But there were even more important things to consider before moving forward.

The Search For GregOnce a director was chosen, the search was on for

the kid who would play Greg Heffley. It wasn’t easy to find a kid who could fill Greg’s cartoon shoes. You might’ve noticed that in the books, Greg isn’t always such a likable character. The kid chosen to play Greg would have to pull off a tough trick. He’d have to act like a bit of a jerk at times, but get the audience to root for him anyway. Dozens of television and movie actors were brought in to try out for the part. They were asked to memorized Greg’s opening monologue and recite it in front of the camera. But no one seemed like a perfect fit. The studio and producers decided to do a nationwide search for Greg. They wrote up a description of the type of kid they were looking for and sent it out everywhere.

The character of Greg Heffley is slight, physically unprepossessing, and not overly cute or precocious. He has a quirky, memorable face, is bright and articulate, and possesses a vivid fantasy life-but he is cursed by the fact that he’s in middle school. Auditioning actors must be able to handle dialog and have a flare for ironic comedy.

Here it is!

The Search For Greg (cont.)

A website was even created to help with the search. Thousands of kids of all shapes and sizes showed up at casting calls and posted their auditions online.

In the end Zachary Gordon got the part. Zach nailed his audition and left no doubt that could bring the character of Greg Heffley to life. And who knows? Maybe this drawing, which Zach sent to the producers a few days before his eleventh birthday, helped him get the job. It was a picture of a cover with every character on it. He said his birthday wish was to get the part.

This is the first book.

Middle

Zachary Gordan Greg Heffley

Zach loves BasketballZach is eleven years oldZach is smartZach has been in playsZach loves writing in “journals”

Greg likes shooting hoopsGreg was invented eleven years agoGreg is an okay studentGreg has been in one playGreg LOVES writing in “journals”

Lots of people auditioned but Zach was the special one. They choose him and he made friends with his

tutor, his acting coach, his make up artist, the director, he’s fellow

actors, the servers… everyone!

End

Everyone was very sad to leave but they had to… they had a “family” dinner so they could say bye, they

also had a party. I was sad to leave.

This is the second book.

This is the third book.

This is the forth book, and the book your reading about.

Special Thanks!

Thanks to Judy Brooks, Samantha Swander, and Sophie Tshihart for helping me record!