Judging by the overwhelmingly positive reaction the "Perks of Being a Wallflower" cast received when they presented the first trailer of their highly anticipated film at the MTV Movie Awards last month, fans are more than excited to see the movie.

Even better than audience anticipation is the genuine enthusiasm expressed by the film's stars anytime we've happened upon them, including a recent chat we had with Mae Whitman, who plays the seemingly unshakably strong-willed and independent Mary Elizabeth.

"Mary Elizabeth was my favorite character because of the arc that she has -- it's so important and beautiful," Whitman told MTV News of her love for the role at the Entertainment Weekly Comic-Con party Saturday. "It's funny because she starts out so confident: She's the most opinionated girl in the world; everything she says goes.

"She has this golden heart, but she goes through this change where for the first time, she can't control the situation when someone else is involved. She has to learn to operate with someone else, with Charlie. I think ultimately in the end, she comes out even stronger."

Asked to name which co-star's performance she most enjoyed watching during filming, Whitman was hard-pressed to pick just one; her appreciation and respect for her castmates was obvious.

"Everybody on that whole show, we all became so close," she shared. "We spent a lot of late nights and early mornings together just really getting to know each other. Some of my best friends are Nick Braun, who plays Ponytail Derek, and Johnny Simmons, who plays Brad.

"And the first time I met Ezra [Miller], I thought, 'Who is this guy?' He just emanates light. He's really a special soul; you don't meet too many people like that. He really takes command of Patrick. He's an incredible person to do it. And also Logan [Lerman] and Emma [Watson]. They're such beautiful individuals and such talented actors."

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" opens everywhere September 14.

Check out everything we've got on "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."

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