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 The 30-year-old British actor plays Four, the mentor of Prior
(Shailene Woodley), in the films, which are based on dystopian
novels by American author Veronica Roth.
James spoke to Reuters ahead of the release on Friday of the
second film in the series, "Insurgent," about his character's
evolution, the film's handling of warfare and being a teen idol.
Q: Where is Four mentally at in "Insurgent"?
A: For the first time, he has something to lose in Tris,
and Tris is very different in this film because she's lost her
parents, and she's on this very destructive path of vengeance.
He is trying to temper that and make sure she doesn't kill
herself essentially, so he's a little bit more open than he was
in the first movie.
Q: The second movie diverges from the book significantly.
Did it allow you to take more liberty with portraying Four?
A: Yes, we definitely had a little bit more liberty. We
still felt like we had the grounding of the first film, and you
feel like you vaguely know who these people are, but you had a
little bit more. People were a bit more relaxed, so everyone
could push the boundaries a little bit.
Q: How was the brutal violence of wartime conveyed in
this film, given its young adult audience?
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A: The cost of violence and the cost of death are dealt with.
I know what you mean, the question of glorification of guns or
glorification of death, but people aren't dispatched with submachine
guns.
Similarly the questions of social structure and what information you
withhold from society, and how that affects people, and how it
dominates them and how eventually it leads to some kind of uprising
(are dealt with.)
Q: How have you handled being a young adult hero, especially
with such an avid fan base for the books?
A: You want the audiences to enjoy the movies, definitely,
and that's why you're doing it, that's definitely a great thing.
Otherwise it's not like my day-to-day life has changed
astronomically. There are things I probably wouldn't do that I did
before, but I'm kind of the same person.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Steve
Orlofsky)
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