Joey King first wanted to play Tally Youngblood after reading Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies at 11. Years later, at 17 or 18, she brought the novel to Netflix; she said she filmed the adaptation at 22 and was 25 when it was released in September 2024. For King, the long path was more than a childhood casting wish: growing older changed how she understood the book, and making the film let her honor both her younger self and readers who had connected with it.
How Joey King’s connection to Uglies began
King told Sarah El-Mahmoud of CinemaBlend that she first read Westerfeld’s novel when she was 11 and immediately fell for its protagonist, Tally. “I read it when I was 11 for the first time and just fell in love with Tally and wanted to be Tally so, so much,” she said in the September 11, 2024 interview. Read King’s interview with CinemaBlend.
The wish stayed with her as she grew up. King recalled taking the property to Netflix when she was 17 or 18, carrying a perspective shaped by having read the story before adolescence and then thinking about its message through her teenage years. Her age markers are her own recollection; they describe a project that took years to reach the screen, not a precise production schedule.
From childhood ambition to Netflix adaptation
Netflix announced the adaptation on September 29, 2020, naming King as its star and an executive producer, McG as director, and Krista Vernoff as screenwriter. The announcement described the film as an adaptation of Westerfeld’s young-adult dystopian novel. See Netflix’s announcement.
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King said she filmed the role at 22, playing Tally, whom she described as 15 and a half. She said the movie was coming out when she was 25. Netflix’s release was set for September 13, 2024, shortly after the interview. These ages show the distance between King’s first connection to the book and her work on the adaptation, while the announcement confirms her credited roles on the film.
Why the book meant something different as she grew older
King said her outlook on Uglies shifted because she had encountered its message at different stages of life. She first read it before becoming a teenager, then carried its ideas with her through those years. By the time she worked on the film, she could look back on the feelings she had as a young reader with a hindsight she wished she had possessed then.
That reflection connects to the novel’s premise. Netflix describes a society where a compulsory operation at sixteen makes everyone conform to an ideal standard of beauty; CinemaBlend characterizes the book as YA science fiction and dystopian fiction concerned with societal beauty standards. King spoke about the personal evolution in her reading, rather than claiming to offer a new or definitive interpretation of those themes.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What King wanted the film to honor
King described the adaptation as a chance to bring the story to life for the child who had loved it and wanted to be Tally. She also wanted to acknowledge the other readers for whom the novel had resonated. In her account, the project joined an early personal ambition with a more mature understanding of a book she had carried through adolescence.
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