‘Uglies’ Author Scott Westerfeld Talks the Netflix Movie and His Novel’s Themes in 2024: “Not About Cosmetic Surgery Anymore”

In 2005 author Scott Westerfeld published Uglies , the first book in a best-selling series about a dystopian world where everyone is considered “ugly” until they get beautifying plastic surgery at the age of 16. He’d been inspired by a friend who moved to Los Angeles, and was told by his new dentist he needed a “five-year plan” to fix his teeth.

“We all joked about how he was going to have to get cosmetic surgery,” Westerfeld told Decider in a recent interview. “I thought, ‘What would it be like to live in a society where everybody had a five-year plan for their teeth, and for their face, and for their body?'”

Nearly twenty years later, Uglies has been adapted into a Netflix film starring Joey King, releasing on the streamer today. Directed by McG (who also directed Netflix’s Rim of the World and The Babysitter ), and written by Jacob Forman, Vanessa Taylor, and Whit Anderson, the Uglies movie was in development hell for years, since 20th Century Fox purchased the rights back in 2006. But thanks in part to star Joey King—an executive producer on the film and self-proclaimed “ huge fan ” of the book—it’s finally a reality. The themes of the novel are still relevant today, though, as Westerfeld pointed out, in sligthly different context.

“Twenty years later, Uglies is not about cosmetic surgery anymore,” the author, who is 61, told Decider. “It’s more about online world and social media. It’s about face-tuning and filters, and the way we surgically alter our lives to look like we’re all movie stars, doing amazing things all the time, going on incredible trips.”

Westerfeld spoke to Decider about the themes of his novel in the light 2024, his role as an executive producer on the film, his hopes for a Pretties movie, and more.

This movie has been in development since 2006, so congratulations on the film getting made! How are you feeling about the end of this long journey?

It’s pretty exciting. It did manage to run into writers strikes, and actors strikes and pandemics!  Every force majeure in the book got thrown at this movie. But the team is really excited about it. Netflix has been really excited about it the whole time. There’s always been vocal fans out there, saying they wanted the movie made. It’s nice that, all those things together mean that something will finally be on screens.

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You’re an executive producer on the film. Talk to me about your involvement in the adaptation—what did that process look for you, working with McG and the writers?

I read the script a couple of times and got to actually do some input on it. I pitched a scene that I thought was important to have in the movie, and it wound up in the film. I was very pleased about that.

Please say which scene!

It’s about the Peris subplot. Peris is slightly different in the movie than in the book. In order for him to have a full journey, I wanted to have one more scene where he decides to become a Special. It’s pretty short, but it rounds out that extra subplot. And because that subplot wasn’t in the book, I thought, “I can touch that up a little bit.”

I got to go on set, which was amazing. It was really fun to be part of a little community out there—everybody out in the wild, away from their homes and families, but getting up at 7 a.m. every morning to create something. As a novelist, I do my work alone. I’m not as used to that collaborative process. So it was really exciting to be in that community. It’s a very different kind of art form.

What originally compelled you to tell this story in 2005, and have your feelings on the story shifted in the context of 2024?

The story was originally inspired by a friend of mine moving to Los Angeles from New York. Basically, this guy went to the dentist, and the dentist sat him down and said, “I think we need a five-year plan for your teeth.” He had New York teeth, kind of like mine—not very shiny, not very straight. This dentist was saying, “You live in LA now. You’ve got to up your teeth game!” We all joked about how he was going to have to get cosmetic surgery. I thought, “What would it be like to live in a society where everybody had a five-year plan for their teeth, and for their face, and for their body?”

Twenty years later, Uglies is not about cosmetic surgery anymore at all, really. It’s more about the digital world. It’s more about online world and social media. It’s about face-tuning and filters, and the way we surgically alter our lives to look like we’re all movie stars—doing amazing things all the time, going on incredible trips. As opposed to normal people living lives that are sometimes interesting, and sometimes boring, and sometimes sad.

‘Uglies’ Author Scott Westerfeld Reacts to Criticism That Star Joey King Is Too Pretty: “There Is Textual Evidence That Tally Is Quite Pretty”

When the book came out in 2005, plastic surgery was a hotly-debated issue, and you were often asked about it. It almost feels like a non-issue now. As you say, everyone can just edit their own photos online easily—but also feels like we gave up fighting it.

[ Laughs .] I mean, get whatever surgery you want to get. But I do think that free choice is really the most important part of this. We don’t owe the world any particular kind of beauty. People who are men don’t owe the world masculinity. Women don’t owe the world femininity. Non-binary people don’t owe the world androgyny. We can decide how we look. We can decide how we take control of our own bodies.

I love Laverne Cox as Dr. Cable, especially given the parallels between the gender-affirming surgery for trans people versus the pretty surgery in this world. Was that something you were thinking about at all when you wrote the book, and how do you feel about that addition to the story’s overall message of self-acceptance?

It is the characteristic of the world that it will always make a science fiction novel more interesting. If [a novels] sets out some interesting conflicts and big themes, the world keeps coming up with new versions of those themes and new ways to interpret that book. So it’s really fascinating, and it’s really great having Laverne on. She is such an advocate of the book. She very much wanted to be in this movie. I don’t want to tell her story for her, but she and I had did have a long conversation about the kinds of expectations that people would put on her, and times when she’s felt like she’s had to have some sort of feminization surgery, or something, and how she’s glad that she didn’t.

In a funny way, that is very much what I was writing about 20 years ago. Right after the book came out, a couple of years later, some 18-year-old kid wrote me and said, “I want to thank you for saving my nose.” This kid had a big, proud Roman nose and was planning on, when she turned 18, getting it reduced to something slim, tiny and not crooked. Having read Uglies , she decided to keep her own nose. I was like, “Wow. That’s the power of the word.”

Was there ever a version of the movie where Dr. Cable goes a little more uncanny, a little more Special-looking by the end?

I think the most uncanny thing about her in this version is her voice. That’s very much in the book as well, that she has modified her voice to be kind of scary as all the Specials, have to some extent. I didn’t want to make the Pretties completely terrifying. I didn’t want to put my thumb on the scale and say that this is clearly bad, and the operation is clearly bad. People do all kinds of surgeries that make them feel better about themselves, and that make other people more able to deal with them. I always felt like the message of the book was freedom of choice, rather than yes or no.

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How would you respond to people who say that Joey King is “too pretty” to be cast in the lead of this movie? I have seen some comments like that online.

Sure. I mean, you know, it’s the internet. I’ve seen all flavors of that remark, in both directions. I don’t think it’s particularly relevant. As the author of the book, I’ll say this: There is some textual evidence that Tally is actually quite pretty, and she only thinks she is ugly. David is like, “You’re incredibly gorgeous.” So in a weird way, it’s not even about that. It’s just about her expectations in the universe that she grew up in. Which, of course, is probably the same for many movie stars out there, who are incredibly gorgeous, as they get up every day and look at themselves and say, “Oh, I look like crap today.” As we all do.

I have to ask about your cameo in the movie—so fun. Whose idea was that? Tell me about that day on set.

The producers called me up five days before I was to be on set, and said, “We thought it would be fun to put you in the movie!” I sent them my measurements and showed up, and there was this costume that fit me perfectly. I was all in costume and my face was all schmutzed up, because people out in The Smoke are living outside and are a little bit dirty. I went to where the background actors were being coached into the world. There was a second assistant director down there saying, “OK, this is what this book is about.”  I got to be undercover and watch that process unfold. Then, right when he got to the end, he recognized me and said, “Oh, crap! I’ve been describing the plot of the book to the author.”

How did you feel about the fact that Shay’s voiceover in that scene refers to you as “an elder” Smokie? I was like, he’s not that old!

[ Laughs .] Well, originally, my wheelbarrow is full of books. I’m actually, technically, The Boss, who was a character in the books who not only is very snarky, he’s the oldest person that Tally has ever seen, who hasn’t had the operation. She’s like, “Oh my God, this is what happens when you get old without the operation!” It’s one thing to see a 20-year-old or a 23-year-old. So in the book, I am A) the character who’s most terrifying to look at and B) I get killed! Which doesn’t happen in the movie, or at least not on screen.

The movie ends on quite a cliffhanger. What have you heard about a movie adaptation of the second book in the series, Pretties ? Does Netflix want to do it? Does McG want to do it? Do you want to do it?

Well, I want to do it. I’m pretty sure McG wants to do it. And obviously when it comes down to it, with Netflix and the other powers that be, is how many people watch it, how many times. So, I will leave that up to the viewers to decide.

Last question: What can you tell me about the upcoming anime series for Leviathan ?

It looks fantastic. I’ve seen the first episode. It’s beautiful. The amount of care and attention to detail has been incredible. When they start releasing trailers into the wild, you’re going to be amazed at the way it looks. And it’s very close to keep Keith Thompson’s original illustrations for the book.

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