John Green’s ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ Cameo Is a Treat for His Longtime Fans

Yes, there is a John Green cameo in the Turtles All the Way Down movie, and yes, it is very cute.

Based on Green’s 2017 novel of the same name, Turtles All the Way Down—which began streaming on Max today—stars Isabela Merced as a 16-year-old named Aza, who struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Despite encouragement from her best friend Daisy (Cree Cicchino), Aza thinks she’ll never be fit for a normal romantic relationship. But then an old (and hot) childhood friend, Davis (Felix Mallard), comes back into her life, and the sparks begin to fly.

Green shot to popularity as an author of young adult fiction in the 2000s thanks to his buzzy first novel, Looking for Alaska, as well as the cult-hit YouTube channel he runs with his brother, Hank Green, known as “The Vlogbrothers.” For those in Nerdfighteria who’ve been following Green’s career for well over a decade, it’s an absolute treat to get to see him on the big screen in the Turtles All the Way Down movie. He has lines and everything!

It goes like this: Aza and Davis have totally hit it off, and are in that, flirty, fun, giddy texting stage of an early relationship. All Aza cares about is getting those texts from Davis. She certainly doesn’t care about playing volleyball in high school gym class. When she misses an easy ball, the gym teacher blows the whistle. And who plays that gym teacher? Why, it’s none other than Mr. John Green himself.

“Aza, can you at least pretend to play?” Green asks, with a long-suffering sigh.

“Sorry, Mr. Adler!” She replies.

And Green ends this cameo with his second and final line in the film: “Alright everybody, let’s get back at it!”

The entire thing lasts less than 30 seconds, but for Green’s devoted fanbase, those 30 seconds are a total delight. And can I just say? He nailed it! I totally believed he was a very tired gym teacher who loves his students, but is also at the end of his rope. I really felt Mr. Adler’s entire backstory in those two lines.

Congratulations to Green for successfully pulling off his first movie cameo. Now all that’s left to do is make an An Abundance of Katherines movie, and get Hank a cameo, too.