My 12-year-old pal Julia clutched her torn, paperback copy of “Beautiful Creatures” during my interview with actors Alice Englert and Alden Ehrenreich, who star in the film adaptation of the young adult book series.

I had brought Julia to the interview because she’s the one who turned me on to the “Beautiful Creatures” books. We’re both big fans of paranormal and dystopian young adult novels, the ones that usually wind up turning into successful movie franchises. We’d spent a lot of time thinking about the actors who might bring our favorite “Beautiful Creatures” characters to life.