When Theo James arrived on set to film Insurgent, the sequel to last spring’s Divergent, he was surprised at the fact that he had to take some time to get to know his character Four again, aka the brooding, sensitive and dangerous Dauntless leader and Tris’ (Shailene Woodley) love interest.
When Screen Rant sat down to talk with James about the twists and turns in the sequel, playing angry son to an absent mom played by Naomi Watts and upping the action sequence ante, we were surprised to learn that James can execute an effective head-butt. Read on to find out if he demonstrated his technique and why we won’t see him in another Underworld movie.
Returning to a character, how easy or fun is it to come back?
It’s good, me and Shae said this before, we had an interesting moment where you think that it doesn’t necessarily require any work but then the first moment on set when you are in a different costume, a different place and you’ve played different characters in between, you have a kind of moment of ‘Who are these people?’ But you get back into it through the course. But it’s always fun, it’s always good to go back to something where you know the people and you have a rapport and hope each time you do that you can use that to make stronger work.
What did you enjoy about having new people to play in the sand box, actor-wise?
It was great. Naomi Watts plays my mom, that was very exciting. She probably had me when she was like 10. It was great, she has a very specific energy which counters her real intentions. Her natural energy is quite ethereal and gentle, whereas behind the eyes is that cold steel.
I asked Ms. Octavia Spencer if there was a welcome party for her but she said, no, it was all business.
[Laughs] She is great as well. The lovely thing about her is she is very fun and very open but then when she’s ready to turn int on, it’s game time.
Is there something you’ve learned to do as Four you can now put on your actor resume proudly, action-wise?
A clean headbutt. I use it frequently. It’s not aggressive in any way.
What is the latest on the next chapter of Underworld?
I think they are developing something but my involvement is [finished].
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The Divergent Series: Insurgent opens in theaters March 20, 2015.
