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Hazel Grace Lancaster

character · in 81 videos (2011–2026)

John says knowing Esther inspired the book, but stresses that Hazel is not Esther. Her favorite band, The Hectic Glow, takes its name from Thoreau's journals.

In: The Fault in Our Stars

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

Videos by year: 2011: 22 · 2012: 9 · 2013: 15 · 2014: 18 · 2015: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2026: 3

Also known as: Hazel

Threads

Also named in the threads: John asks Nerdfighters whether he should read the audiobook of The Fault in Our Stars (2011) · John reading his new novel's audiobook in a young woman's voice: 'And then I took off my bra' (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.

Augustus Waters (17) · The Fault in Our Stars (film) (15) · The Fault in Our Stars (22) · Fox 2000 Pictures (2) · Amsterdam (4) · John's untitled novel (2011) (2) · Esther Earl (3) · Looking for Alaska (novel) (2)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2011

  • 2011-03-09 · DANDY LIONS! It's Question Day — announcement: John says his new book comes out in almost exactly one year. — 00:00:54
  • 2011-03-28 · Participatory Geometry — announcement: John says he just learned his new book is definitely coming out in March, not in two days but the next March, and he should settle on a title soon. — 00:01:20
  • 2011-04-20 · Tulipomania — John says he is really in Amsterdam, not before a green screen, for two months finishing his new book; the reason for Amsterdam will become obvious when you read it. — 00:00:03
  • 2011-06-10 · Then I Took Off My Bra — announcement: John says he and Hank will go on tour in the United States when his new, as-yet-untitled but soon-to-be-titled book comes out. — 00:02:15
  • 2011-06-29 · THE FAULT IN OUR STARS — announcement: John can finally reveal the title of his new novel: The Fault in Our Stars. — 00:00:00
  • 2011-07-01 · Humping the Town — Hank says The Fault in Our Stars has been number one on the Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestseller charts four days running with almost no publicity. — 00:00:29
  • 2011-07-27 · 150,000 Autographs — announcement: John announces Penguin has moved The Fault in Our Stars forward five months, from May 1 to January 10, 2012. — 00:00:17
  • 2011-10-19 · Question Wed — THE COVER OF THE FAULT IN OUR STARS! — announcement: John: With his publisher Julie Strauss-Gabel's permission, given two minutes earlier, John reveals the cover of The Fault in Our Stars and hopes viewers like it as much as he does. — 00:00:30
  • 2011-10-28 · Reading Chapter One of The Fault in Our Stars — 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 — announcement: John reads Chapter 2 of his new book The Fault in Our Stars aloud, thanking his publisher Penguin for allowing it. — 00:00:07
  • 2011-12-05 · 5 Worst Typos of History — John shows the finished copy of The Fault in Our Stars that came in the mail, one of the few unsigned copies. — 00:00:03
  • 2011-12-23 · There Will Be NO SPOILERS!!! — John thanks Amazon and every independent bookstore for not shipping their pre-orders after the leak, which lets the January 10 publication date stand. — 00:02:50
  • …and 39 statements more in 2011 — all statements of 2011

2012

  • 2012-01-10 (said on 2012-01-09, implied) · The Fault in Our Stars — announcement: John says The Fault in Our Stars comes out today, January 10, 2012, though he is filming on Monday, January 9, because he is busy tomorrow. — 00:00:00
    • John says TFIOS grew from his work almost twelve years ago as a student chaplain at a children's hospital; he has been trying ever since to write a funny, honest story about it. — 00:00:28 · also in: TAKE IT DOWN A NOTCH
  • 2012-01-13 (said on 2012-01-10, implied) · TFiOS PARTY! — Hank tells John he is really proud of him and of The Fault in Our Stars: every review has been fantastic, everyone on Amazon loves it, and Hank loves it. — 00:00:42
  • 2012-01-27 · In 'N' Out-Erview — announcement: Hank introduces John as the number one New York Times best-selling author of The Fault in Our Stars. — 00:00:51
  • 2012-03-20 · Sharpie Face Question Tuesday — announcement: 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
    • John says The Fault in Our Stars is currently number 2 on the New York Times bestseller list, behind only Hugo Cabret, a book he really liked. — 00:01:41
  • 2012-03-27 · Wrong but Right: Thoughts from Places Amsterdam — John says the trip supported the publication of the Dutch edition of The Fault in Our Stars; he gave a series of interviews in the hotel library. — 00:01:13
  • 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
  • 2012-11-13 · I Was a Child Poet. And a Bad One. — announcement: John announces that Amazon.com named The Fault in Our Stars one of the ten best books of 2012 overall, not just for teenagers, right behind Dave Eggers and ahead of Junot Díaz. — 00:00:05
  • 2012-12-04 · Time for AWESOME — John says Time Magazine has just named The Fault in Our Stars first on its list of the top ten novels of 2012, ahead of Hilary Mantel, Zadie Smith, Junot Diaz and J.K. Rowling, and he is overwhelmed. — 00:00:00
  • …and 12 statements more in 2012 — all statements of 2012

2013

  • 2013-01-15 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — John says none of those books addressed what he saw at the hospital, which left him feeling only nihilism; then he became friends with Esther Earl and became a father. — 00:53:28
    • John says Henry's birth showed him he'll be Henry's dad as long as either lives; that love is in this sense stronger than death was very important to TFIOS. — 00:53:48
  • 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 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
  • 2013-04-23 · DOCTOR GREEN — John says The Fault in Our Stars, fifteen months after publication, is back at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list, passing Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower, now No. 2. — 00:02:22
  • 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 — announcement: John says Shailene must cut her hair to play Hazel Grace and will donate it to Children With Hair Loss, which gives free wigs to kids who lost hair through illness or burns. — 00:03:05
  • 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
  • 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 32 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, his fourth novel, sold more hardcovers in its first week than his three previous novels had ever sold combined. — 00:00:20
    • 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
  • …and 1 statement more in 2017 — all statements of 2017

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

2019

  • 2019-04-23 · untitled — John: The Fault in Our Stars was very nearly titled 'The Sequel' or 'The Sequels'; in April 2011 emails Julie told John, politely, that it was not a good title. — 00:01:27

2022

  • 2022-01-11 · The Fault in Our Stars - Ten Years Later — announcement: John: The Fault in Our Stars was first published ten years ago yesterday (10 January 2012). — 00:00:00
    • John thanks readers for keeping Hazel and Gus around all these years; it means a lot to him. — 00:03:24

2023

  • 2023-01-10 · Introducing: The Format — John notes The Fault in Our Stars came out 11 years ago today (10 January 2012) and calls it a strange 11 years. — 00:00:00
  • 2023-11-07 · NaFaDoYBIMSCoM — John completed a draft of The Fault in Our Stars in mid-December 2010 after attempting NaFaDoYBIMSCoM. — 00:02:14

2024

2025

  • 2025-04-15 · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator? — John explains the title writes against Shakespeare's line that the fault is not in our stars: there is much fault in our stars, bad luck and structural injustice. — 00:19:38
  • 2025-06-03 · My Lies — John says that before The Fault in Our Stars he confidently said on the channel his next book would be about kids on a desert island; he wrote most of it, but it had no reason for being, so he wrote the book that became The Fault in Our Stars. — 00:01:21
  • 2025-10-07 · Luck vs. Work vs. Skill vs. Privilege — John was especially lucky with The Fault in Our Stars: Nerdfighteria and his publisher backed it, adults were reading YA, Time called it the best book of the year, and the movie did well. — 00:03:16

2026

  • 2026-03-24 · How Panda Express Is Tuberculosis — John: Hazel's favorite band in the novel, The Hectic Glow, takes its name from a line in Thoreau's journals calling disease and decay beautiful, like the hectic glow of consumption. — 00:00:29
  • 2026-07-07 · On the Death of the Author — John: In The Fault in Our Stars John invented Peter Van Houten, an author who meets a dying young reader, knowing readers knew the book was partly inspired by his meeting Esther Earl. — 00:04:25
  • 2026-09-22 · I Want You to Know Nothing About This — John recalls that when The Fault in Our Stars came out 14 years ago, a few hundred people got it a month early, and he was devastated, expecting the plot to leak online. — 00:03:14