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Augustus Waters

character · in 48 videos (2011–2024)

Augustus Waters, or Gus, is a 17-year-old who had osteosarcoma and meets Hazel in John's novel; together they face the fear of oblivion. John says Augustus learns what Esther taught him: the real hero's journey goes from strength to weakness. Ansel Elgort was cast as Augustus Waters in the film of The Fault in Our Stars.

In: The Fault in Our Stars

Speaks in 2 videos; this page lists what is said about them.

Videos by year: 2011: 3 · 2012: 6 · 2013: 14 · 2014: 17 · 2015: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2024: 1

Also known as: Augustus, Gus

Threads

Also named in the threads: Question Tuesday: weekly Tuesday question days for nerdfighters (2007) · The Fault in Our Stars: writing, title and publication (2011) · TFIOS film promotional tour: John with Nat Wolff, Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, stops chosen by Tumblr vote (2014)

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

Hazel Grace Lancaster (17) · The Fault in Our Stars (19) · The Fault in Our Stars (film) (9) · Julie Strauss-Gabel (3) · Looking for Alaska (novel) (4) · An Abundance of Katherines (2) · Amsterdam (2) · doobly-doo (2) · Sarah Urist Green (3) · Paper Towns (2)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2011

  • 2011-06-06 · Men Running on Tanks and the Truth about Book Editors — John reads from Julie's editorial letter on his new book, which raises Augustus's philosophy against Hazel's, the nobility of sacrifice versus illness, and what constitutes martyrdom. — 00:02:04
  • 2011-10-28 · Reading Chapter One of The Fault in Our Stars — Hazel Grace Lancaster: At group, Hazel meets Augustus Waters, 17, who had osteosarcoma, came at his friend Isaac's request, and says he fears oblivion. (fiction) — 00:13:59
    • Augustus Waters: Augustus tells Hazel she is beautiful, likens her to V for Vendetta-era Natalie Portman and invites her to watch the film at his house. (fiction) — 00:20:54
    • Augustus Waters: Augustus explains his unlit cigarette as a metaphor: holding the killing thing between your teeth without giving it the power to kill; Hazel then goes to the movie with him. (fiction) — 00:26:29
    • John says the book is the story of Hazel and Augustus trying to come to terms with Hazel's opening soliloquy that everything will end in oblivion, and of their life together. — 00:27:15
  • 2011-11-25 · Chapter TWO of The Fault in Our Stars — John recaps Chapter 1: Hazel and Augustus meet at a cancer kids' support group; he says she looks like V for Vendetta-era Natalie Portman and invites her to watch it at his house. (fiction) — 00:00:37
    • Hazel Grace Lancaster: In the novel, Hazel suspects Augustus's licence was a 'cancer perk': the little things cancer kids get that regular kids don't, like signed basketballs or homework passes. (fiction) — 00:02:50
    • Hazel Grace Lancaster: Augustus's parents fill their house with sayings on plaques and pillows that they call 'encouragements'. (fiction) — 00:07:16
    • Augustus Waters: Augustus tells how, shooting free throws on his last day with both legs, basketball suddenly seemed pointless and made him think of hurdlers jumping arbitrary obstacles. (fiction) — 00:12:01
    • Augustus Waters: Augustus asks for Hazel's story, not her cancer story, and urges her not to become her disease, since cancer is in the business of taking people over. (fiction) — 00:15:10
    • Hazel Grace Lancaster: Hazel's favourite book is An Imperial Affliction, a book so personal that recommending it feels like betrayal; Augustus promises to read it and gives her The Price of Dawn. (fiction) — 00:16:31
  • …and 1 statement more in 2011 — all statements of 2011

2012

  • 2012-03-20 · Sharpie Face Question Tuesday — John says he will be involved in the TFIOS movie in any way he can be helpful, but he is not a movie person. — 00:00:10
    • John says Fox 2000 optioned the movie rights to The Fault in Our Stars; hopefully they will make it, but it is too soon to get excited. (hedged) — 00:00:16
    • Asked who should play Hazel and Augustus, John says he knows nothing of contemporary actors (Drew Barrymore is still 17 in his mind) and asks who viewers would want. (playful) — 00:01:28
  • 2012-03-27 · Wrong but Right: Thoughts from Places Amsterdam — John walks toward the Vondelpark to relive Gus and Hazel's wish, showing the novel's places: the Hotel de Filosoof, the tree Hazel looks at, Peter Van Houten's house, the Anne Frank House and the canal-side bench. — 00:00:43
  • 2012-05-01 · Moon Farts: Being Charlie While Running Errands — announcement: John notes that the movie rights to The Fault in Our Stars were optioned by Fox 2000, and that the script is being written by the writers of (500) Days of Summer. — video description
    • John goes to get his movie deal notarized, calling it the day of the best errands ever; the description says it is the movie option for The Fault in Our Stars. — 00:01:23
  • 2012-06-05 · The Dangling Rope of Terror: It's Question Tuesday — John: Asked whether he will cast nerdfighters in a Fault in Our Stars movie, John says if Fox makes it he will have exactly as much say in casting as viewers, and should not be trusted with it. — 00:02:27
  • 2012-08-28 · In Which the Candle Dies — John: Expecting an unpopular opinion, John loves the Swedish TFIOS cover: bold, weird, pulpy, all love, death, grenades and sacrifice, the cover Augustus would want. (hedged) — 00:00:58
  • …and 1 statement more in 2012 — all statements of 2012

Also named in: Burning Peeps, My OTP, and Velociraptors: It's Question Tuesday

2013

  • 2013-01-15 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — John says Esther, a Nerdfighter reader very sick with cancer when they met in 2009, taught him what Augustus learns: the real hero's journey goes from strength to weakness. — 00:54:11
  • 2013-02-19 · Doing Things, On the Importance of — John: Having had his heart broken by Hollywood before, John is starting to think the Fault in Our Stars movie is actually going to happen. (hedged) — 00:01:18
  • 2013-04-02 · TFiOS Movie Casting, New Books, and Groundhog Wars: An Old School Vlogbrothers Video — announcement: John says a film adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars seems increasingly likely, though still not certain. (hedged) — 00:01:27
    • John announces Shailene Woodley has been cast as Hazel, citing her Golden Globe nomination and Sundance award, and says she is a real fan who wrote him before the film. — 00:01:56
  • 2013-05-14 · Puppies, Pegasi, and TFiOS Casting: It's Question Tuesday — announcement: John confirms the TFIOS film casting: Ansel Elgort as Augustus Waters and Shailene Woodley as Hazel Grace Lancaster. — 00:00:37
    • To fans angry about the casting, John says he too wants a good movie; having seen the auditions, he says viewers will just see Hazel and Gus, not the actors. — 00:00:44
  • 2013-08-13 · Shailene's Hair, Unfair Monopoly, and the Just World Fallacy — John says Shailene Woodley, who will play Hazel in the Fault in Our Stars movie, is a rare soul who stays weird, empathetic and wonderful despite success. — 00:02:49
  • 2013-08-27 · On the TFIOS Movie Set — John is on the set of The Fault in Our Stars movie, in a trailer with producer Isaac, filming at a deliberately weird angle so as not to give away locations, and cannot show the set (no spoilers). — 00:00:06
    • John says the movie is happening because of the script, producers, director and cast, but also because many people read, loved and shared the book: without that, there would be no movie. — 00:02:12
  • 2013-09-10 · Secrets of the Movies: Thoughts from The Fault in Our Stars Set — John says one of his favorite things about the movie so far is that real teen cancer survivors were cast for the support group; he thanks them for taking part and sharing their experiences. — 00:02:20
  • 2013-10-22 · Question Tuesday: The Fault in Our Stars Movie Edition — announcement: John: The film comes out on June 6 in the US; John does not yet know the international dates. — 00:00:29
    • John stresses he is not a producer and the film is not his movie: he is not its director, producer, casting director, music supervisor or actor. — 00:01:27
  • …and 24 statements more in 2013 — all statements of 2013

2014

2015

  • 2015-04-14 · A Long Good Day — John: Shailene Woodley won best actress for her role in The Fault in Our Stars; her kindness about John in her speech made him cry, and Nat teased him for it. — 00:02:23
    • The Fault in Our Stars won Best Movie, and John made the acceptance speech, as everyone had urged, so that he could thank Esther. — 00:02:38

2016

  • 2016-01-19 · The Looking for Alaska Movie, Davos, and Hufflepuff Shade: It's Question Tuesday — John: Asked to six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon himself, John says he acted in The Fault in Our Stars movie (scene cut, but in the extended version) with Laura Dern, who was in Novocaine with Kevin Bacon. (playful) — 00:01:23
    • John admits this bums him out but reminds him how lucky he was with two great book-to-movie experiences; authors are almost never as welcomed into the process as he was with The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns. — 00:02:19
  • 2016-09-20 · Failing to Follow Up The Fault in Our Stars — John says The Fault in Our Stars kept selling, and in May 2012 he read an amazing screenplay adaptation and realized it might become a movie. — 00:01:14

2017

  • 2017-04-14 · ★★★★ Review: The TFiOS Bench - Amsterdam — Hank reports critical reviews: Milena's two-star review finds the bench extremely uncomfortable and wonders how Hazel and Gus did it; Dominika says people need to treat it better. (hedged) — 00:01:27
  • 2017-12-05 · On the Movies — John says he almost didn't sell the film rights to The Fault in Our Stars, partly after bad experiences in Hollywood and partly because the book was very close to him. — 00:01:05
    • John says he sold the rights and got very lucky: Elizabeth and Erin at Fox 2000 were perfect stewards, with amazing producers, screenwriters and cast, and a movie he really loved. — 00:01:54

2018

  • 2018-08-28 · The Book Was Better? — John: Fans were very mad when Nat Wolff was cast as Isaac, who is blond in the book, and John was concerned too, but Wolff turned out to be the perfect Isaac. — 00:01:06

2022

2024