Ansel Elgort On ‘Men, Women And Children,’ Social Media [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Ansel Elgort is a New York-born actor who most recently played Augustus Waters in the film The Fault in Our Stars. He took some time to speak with uInterview about his newest film, Men, Women, and Children, where he plays Tim, a depressed fifteen-year-old who spends most of his time on an online role playing game before meeting a girl who helps break him out of his shell.

While the movie does not offer one singular message about social media, Elgort believes the film provides, at the very least, a realistic portrayal. “People are very connected, in their phones all the time and I suppose you can take away from it like, ‘Oh, social media is bad,’ but I don’t think it is,” Elgort told uInterview exclusively. “I think it is saying this is how it is and maybe it’d be a good idea to put down our phones a little more often and connect with the people in front of us.”

Elgort also spoke to uInterview about his personal experience with social media and was honest about its initial effects. “At first, when it first started happening and I first got some followers it was fun and it still is fun and I may have been obsessed a little bit,” he said.

While Twitter and other forms of social media can certainly provide entertainment, Elgort is mindful of its power and has a few rules. “I don’t like to say negative things and I don’t like to just tweet crap. I feel like, it’s not as simple as like, me tweeting to a hundred people anymore. I’m tweeting to 2 million people every time I send out a tweet, so I have to think about what I am saying. ”

Men, Women and Children was released in select theaters on October 1 and will have a wide release on Friday October 17.