Shailene Woodley and Theo James Talk Rekindling On Screen Romance in 'Allegiant'
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- Category: Interviews
- Published: Monday, 14 March 2016 18:23
- Written by Ethan Falk
Fans of the Divergent Series have witnessed some pretty magical on-screen chemistry between the post-apocalyptic power couple--Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) and Theo James. This time around for ALLEGIANT, the sparks continue to fly as the plot shifts its scenery to a tech-heavy landscape equipped with flying drones and futuristic gadgets.
Despite the evolution of the plot and its changing environment, Woodley says she had no problem readjusting and getting back into Tris’s shoes for this installment especially when it came to maintaining the chemistry with Theo James.
“It literally takes nothing. Nothing but being on set, wearing the clothes, seeing Theo and having the crew all there. You just sort of instantly fall back into it. Now I feel like I know her so well, it’s more about figuring out the story and dynamic of the plotline more so than Tris’s inner workings.”
Woodley acknowledged that after working on three films together with James, they’ve gotten to know each other pretty darn well. According to the 24-year-old, it’s no longer about creating chemistry but continuing to understand what makes each other comfortable during scenes that can naturally feel awkward.
“I can look at Theo and tell when he’s uncomfortable. He can look at me and tell when I’m uncomfortable with something. We have each other’s backs so fully, in such a unified way that when it comes to intimacy or uncomfortable situations, we’re both able to make sure they’re comfortable for one another and ourselves,” explained Woodley.
Cinemovie caught up with James via phone call as he sat in his London hotel sipping on a cup of tea. When asked about continuing to create chemistry with Woodley, the actor filled us in on his little secret.
“Viagra essentially,” joked James. “No you definitely have to work on it. You need to make sure you’re questioning the decision the characters make and the script and do that all the time--and question how theseTHE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT two characters interact. “
Allegiant stands as the most ambitious film of the series when it comes to special effects. The film needed to rely on visual effects to create a bigger environment than ever before. For James and the rest of the cast, interacting with technology like battle droids and robots that weren’t there proved to be a bit of a challenge.
“There’s a lot of green screen and bits we couldn’t see and had to visualize. Imagining what this world would be like and operating it was more difficult than it had been. The other films were more grounded in terms of their use of technology where this one went into a different space,” described James.
Woodley added that she imagines it’s probably how Andrew Garfield felt having to shoot invisible webs during the filming of Spider-Man.
“It felt silly to be honest. You’re shooting something and its not actually there. We just kept laughing. It’s not like we went into a world like "Star Wars" where we knew what it would look like. This is a brand new vision for "Allegiant" specifically.”
Playing pretend alongside James and Woodley was actress/musician Zoe Kravitz (Mad Max) who believes there’s a beauty in having to get in touch with your childlike imagination. She told Cinemovie that she was just hoping not too look too stupid when it was all said and done.
“Theres this voice inside of your head saying this doesn’t look right, I’m going to look like an idiot. You have to cross your fingers that when it’s all said and done they made it look real. I think it worked out okay. “
Watch THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT when it climbs into theaters March 18th! Watch movie clip.