KRISTINE FROSETH from Looking for Alaska

Kristine Froseth’s favourite scene in Hulu’s Looking for Alaska comes early on, in episode one. Her character, Alaska, is perched above an Alabama stream, book in hand. ‘The General in his Labyrinth, Gabriel García Márquez. You ever read him?’ she asks her seatmate, Miles (Charlie Plummer), a welcome reincarnation of One Tree Hill’s Lucas Scott. The couple’s will-they-won’tthey courtship guides the mini-series, based on John Green’s best-selling YA novel. Secluded at a 199Os boarding school, Alaska is set up as a stereotype for the Norwegian-American actor to dismantle: the bibliophilic cool girl, beer-chugging and mysterious. ‘Kristine saw Alaska from the inside,’ Green says. ‘She’s able to capture her pain, vulnerability, and how she’s very performative when she’s around other people.’ Froseth adds, ‘We’re very similar. Growing up and moving a lot, I put on this mask, trying to fit in with different crowds.’ The 23-year-old first read the book at school. ‘I remember feeling like I was less alone,’ says the actor, who co-starred in Netflix’s 2O18 rom-com Sierra Burgess is a Loser. ‘All your firsts are happening… that’s what John does so well: he puts all that onto paper.’