Cast of The Scorch Trials talks with MTV about why Dylan O'Brien is the king of stunts and the tough stunt work they've been pulling this time around.
Dylan: I didn't think it'd be more running, but it is. It's running everywhere. It's running away from things. Up sand dunes. It's just fun. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Thomas: Running up and down sand dunes, I did find that you're just out of breath very quickly. More physically demanding, but I quite like that.
Kaya: The sand just makes you stay still. You're a cartoon: your legs move, but your body doesn't. You sink, lower and lower. I'm the worst. I'm the laziest, by far. I don't like exercise at all and they push me to do it. I look at Dylan and Ki Hong and I'm like 'If they can do it, I can do it too!'
Dexter: Dyl is a freak athlete. I don't know if people know that, but Dylan's really, really fast and really, really talented in baseball. Ki Hong's really fast too. I play a lot of sports, so it was kind of easy for me to jump and get into the running. But I think we were all in the same boat when it came to Albuquerque and dealing with this altitude. This is something that none of us have ever seen before. We definitely ride Ki Hong and Dylan's coattails a little bit, from just knowing how to run and how to look cool running. You learn a little bit of that stuff from them.
Extra TV talks with Kaya, Dylan, Rosa, and Guancarlo on the Scorch Trials set.
Here are the highlights:
On filming Scorch Trials:
Kaya: We're having a lot of fun. We're in a new place; we're in New Mexico this time. We've been on sand dunes in the middle of ruined cities. It's just been so cool to see. It really feels like you're on a movie set. It looks nothing like London or anywhere I've ever been.
Dylan: I love how every week we're at a new location. It almost feels like we're filming four different movies in one.
Rosa: The landscape here is more than perfect for The Scorch. I mean, it's flat, it's dry, it's beautiful. It has this natural terrain that's just stunning.
Dylan on the evolution into Scorch:
In the second book, the world really opens up. So now we go out and you kind of see what's happened to the world and where we're at and the reason that we were put in there. We meet a lot of new characters, other Gladers, so you just find out a lot of answers to the mystery of the first movie.
Giancarlo on Jorge:
I play a character who turns up in the second book named Jorge. You seem to think he might be working for a big corporation called WCKD, who's trying to run the world, but as it turns out, eventually you learn that he is the head of the scavengers, a separate group of folks who've survived The Scorch and he is their leader.
Kaya on Teresa: What I'm excited about is that she's starting to unfold the mystery of who she is. You didn't really learn a lot about her in the first movie and I liked that. I like that it was quite a long process. Also, we get to see me running, which isn't fun for me, but I look quite funny, so people will enjoy that. This one is a lot more physical. It's basically a chase movie from the very beginning. I feel kinda fit and healthy and my boyfriend's really proud of me. Once we finish, I'm just going to eat Twinkies and sit on the sofa.
Kaya on cast injuries on set
A little bumps and bruises, here and there, but that's all apart of it. It's good to feel like you've committed to it properly and you've done your best, and get a little war scar, which I think is quite cool.
Giancarlo on the cast: I had a great day yesterday with Rosa Salazaar (Brenda), who plays my daughter (figure) in this and she's a wonderful actor, as is Dylan and all of the rest of the cast. I feel honored to be, what I think will be, one of the only adults to wind up with all of these young people on their side.
Rosa on Scorch experience: It's one of the best crews and casts, productions I've ever been on. It's really sweet, really fun. The script is amazing, my part is amazing, and it's nice to come to work and be able to play.
Dylan on the success of Maze Runner: We're so happy that the first one did well, because we have so much fun doing it. It's a story we all believe in, too. It's that project that's a magical combination of positives for everyone involved.
Great set interview, right? Cannot wait to see more of these crop up soon!
Entertainment Weekly caught up with director Wes Ball for the scoop on the new trailer!
Here are the highlights:
On the virus:
In the last movie we said these kids are immune to the virus, but in the second book we learn they actually are infected. So that will sort itself out in the movie. The question is who is immune and who isn’t. That’s a mystery we hold out.
On Aidan Gillen playing Janson (Rat-Man):
He plays essentially the villain of the movie, this character named Janson – or what the book fans would know as Rat-Man. We expanded his role in this movie and he’s really fun to watch onscreen.
On Aris:
In the book he was a contemporary of Thomas, very much that version of him in the other maze. But I just felt I didn’t need another handsome, strapping man to compete with Thomas. I wanted someone who would be a little more of a little brother to him. So I changed it slightly.
On Thomas as a leader:
His character is responsible for taking the kids from the last movie and fleeing this maze at great cost. A lot of people died, some of them his best friends. So Thomas has a lot of guilt resting on his shoulders. And he might be doing it again, marching these kids into dangerous situations. He’s wrestling with the responsibility of being a leader. Sometimes you make the wrong choices.
Radio Times recently caught up with James Dashner to talk all things The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials.
Check out the highlights:
On the biggest challenge in adapting TST: The biggest issue was that some of the changes we made in the first one had ripple effects that affected the second book even more so. For the second movie, we really tried hard to stay true to the spirit and tone of the book and keep some of the major scenes, but we had a little bit more of an increase in changes between book and movie. But I think my readers will be happy with it.
On blending TST and The Death Cure:
Basically it just made sense to move a big chunk of the third book to the second film. It’s not a death or anything like that. It’s a major exciting part of the third book that’s now in the second movie. Then when we get to the third movie, things will align back to the books more strongly. I’ve kind of been prepping my fans already to prepare themselves for that.
On not splitting The Death Cure film into two:
Two main reasons. The first is that the books have always lent themselves to three parts – that’s why I wrote the books in three parts. It seems disingenuous to try and split that into four parts just to make some more money. Secondly, I’ve definitely sensed an annoyance among other fandoms when these books are split into two parts. I felt like it was truer to the books and truer to our fans to keep it to three movies.
On writing The Fever Code:
I am busy writing the first draft. I have it all outlined and everything. It’s really fun to be writing some of these scenes that I’ve been alluding to and have known in my head for years and years. I’m having a good time writing it. I’ve resurrected some characters. Since we’ve gone back in time a little bit, they’re all alive and well. I don’t know about well – but they’re alive.
On Thomas and Teresa's romance:
I think it will have the same tone as they first one – that they have a connection, but they’re not in the right type of situation to date. It seems ridiculous to have this beautiful romance in the midst of all this horror. It’s more about friendship and loyalty and that includes everyone. Thomas and Teresa can tell they had a connection before the maze and that’s really the only difference between them – they’re just a little bit closer. I think you’ll see that a little bit more in the second film, but not too much.
On the Cranks:
The biggest goal was to make them terrifying and then our second biggest goal was to make sure they didn’t come across as zombies. People are just going to be blown away; they are terrifying and hideous and don’t necessarily look like zombies. They definitely keep their human aspect – that’s what they are: humans that caught this crazy, insane virus. So they keep that humanity, which I think is what makes them so terrifying. The Grievers are just big monsters, so they’re scary, but not horrifying. But the fact that you can still see the humanity in the Cranks makes them all the scarier. So they’re going to give people nightmares…
Be sure to read the rest of the interview over at Radio Times!
During filming, MTV got to visit the set of Scorch Trials. Check out their behind the scenes look and interviews with Dylan, Thomas, and Wes.
Dylan on the transition between the films:
At the end of the first film, some of the Gladers make it out and basically, what the Gladers find out is that the world has been taken over by this virus/disease called The Flare. It's like Walking Dead all of a sudden.
Thomas on the film's narrative:
They're thrown into this world with these people that tell us things. They find out that those things aren't necessarily the truth and it's all just a kind of learning experience of trying to find out what the hell's going on.
Wes on adapting the novel(s): James's been very involved in the choices that we've been making in adapting his book and our approach has basically been to take the rest of his stories, the (next) two books he's created, and we're making two movies out of that rather than just a straight adaptation of the second book. We need to start laying a nice linear arch for these characters for the rest of the saga.
On what to expect from the film:
Wes: A lot of action, a lot of fun, and hopefully the new kind of look at what the franchise we started with in the Maze.
Thomas: I think that the fans will just enjoy seeing us in just a completely different circumstance.
Dylan: The book's insane and we're bringing a lot of that to the movie. It really just opens up the world that was such a mystery in the first one. Of course, with what Wes does with it, it's even cooler. The movie's gonna look amazing, so a little less pressure off of me this time. It's going to be real cool for the fans. I can't wait for them to see it!
