Book to Screen : The Duff
It ’ s been over 10 years since we learned the perils of being a “ mean girl ” in 2004 ’ s Mean Girls . That means that it ’ s time we all had a refresher course in teen popularity politics . In 2015 , from CBS Entertainment , comes The Duff , a book-to-screen adaptation of Kody Keplinger ’ s 2010 novel of the same name . Filming took place in Atlanta , GA , from June 2014 to July 2014 .
First things first , DUFF is an acronym , which stands for Designated Ugly Fat Friend . It ’ s a label that ’ s unfairly put on any girl who is considered to be the least attractive in her particular group of friends , and in this case , Mae Whitman ( Parenthood , Arrested Development ) takes on the role of Bianca , the girl who gets labeled the Duff . The film also stars Bianca Santos ( Happyland ), Skyler Samuels ( The Nine Lives of Chloe King ), and Bella Thorne ( Shake It Up !), who play the best friends surrounding Mae Whitman ’ s Duff . Bella Thorne plays the ringleader , Madison , who may or may not be responsible for Bianca ’ s hostile new
DUFF is an acronym , which stands for Designated Ugly Fat Friend
nickname . Robbie Amell ( The Tomorrow People ) plays Wesley , a sharp-tongued jock for whom Bianca develops feelings after he enlists his help in rebranding her image .
One difference from the book to screen is that it seems Madison is the one responsible for labeling Bianca the Duff , whereas in the book it is Wesley who labels her . We do see Wesley call her the Duff for the first time in the new trailer that just dropped , but the origin is revealed later on . Perhaps this change was an effort to confront the way that teenage girls tend to use things like labels and exclusion to hurt other people . The film is expected to bring to light this kind of high school treachery , and hopefully will show that finding confidence in being oneself is the best way to beat any label .
The Duff opens Friday , February 20 ! 13
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