Jennifer Niven's All the Bright Places is a book loved by thousands of people. A story of love, mental illness, and loss, this book has come to mean a lot to so many people, teaching them to search for the bright places in their own lives, be them physical spaces or people they know and love.

The movie adaptation was confirmed by the author well over a year ago, and we were told from the start that Elle Fanning would play one half of this beloved pair of characters, Violet Markey. On the other hand, Violet's other half wasn't announced.

Fans were asked who they would recommend for the role, polls were done, and months of curious anticipation passed until finally, on Monday, July 23, Justice Smith was announced as our beloved Theodore Finch, arguably the brightest place in this whole narrative.

Despite being in movies like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Paper Towns, Smith is not a well-known actor by any means; quite a few people didn't know who he was before the announcement and were surprised to find out that he had been in titles this big.

Niven assures fans that he is a good singer and a guitarist like Finch is in the book, and that he is a believer in equality and a man dedicated to his family.

I don't know about anyone else, but this actor isn't what I envisioned when I read the story of Finch, Violet, and their hunt for bright places both inside and outside of one another. While this is the case, I'm grateful that Justice Smith was cast as one of my favorite fictional characters of all time.

Big names like Cole Sprouse and Harry Styles were recommended and seriously considered for this role, but I knew from the start that I would never be able to take some famous actor seriously as normal old Indiana boy Finch. The same goes for all of the seemingly flawless young men that were up for this role: I needed to see someone that wasn't physically flawless, and I see that in Justice Smith. He's attractive, yes, but he isn't one of those stereotypically perfect people that you see cast as teenagers all the time.

I knew we needed a Finch who could sing and play guitar, and I'm glad that no one is being forced to learn an instrument just for this role. Finch isn't just learning in this book, and I want someone to be genuine in their confidence in their ability to play, the same way Finch is.

Above all, what means the most to me is that belief in equality. Knowing that one of my favorite characters ever is being portrayed by an actor that cares about the rights of people regardless of who they are warms my heart because that's how I see Finch in my mind. This is a boy that is failed a million times in his life, and it's only right that he cares about others in the same way that no one cares about him.

All in all, it's safe to say that I'm so excited to see Justice Smith play Finch, no matter what anyone else thinks.