That was Veronica Roth's answer when she was asked to describe Theo James in four words at an in-depth interview with a number of websites at the Lionsgate offices in Santa Monica recently.
Yeap I think we'd agree with her, don't you?
A couple of more questions were asked about Theo James and his "Divergent" character, Four.
Check them out below:
From PageToPremiere.com
Q: Can you describe Theo James as Four in four words? (Kate: very clever, lol)
A: In four words?
Q: See the pun there?
A: Let me think. Okay. So…handsome, intense, and sensitive. And, I don’t know, badass? Is that good? (Kate:Sounds good to me!)
Q: Will you ever write from Four or any other character’s point of view?
A: I wouldn’t rule it out as far as sort of like, side material. Sort of like Free Four was. What I discovered when I wrote Free Four was its incredibly difficult to write a scene from another character’s perspective, because you have to keep consulting the original to make sure that it lines up. Then you have to keep the whole frame of the story in mind. It was so hard that I was like I don’t know if I could ever do it as a full length thing. It was fun, but yeah, it’s definitely a challenge.
Q: When you were on set did any of the actors come to you and have questions about what they should be doing?
A: I actually had a fairly long conversation with Miles Teller about Peter. It was really interesting. I think it was because Peter’s a little confusing as a character and definitely one of the stranger characters. I explained some things to him, and he was interested in seeing and figuring that out. I talked to Theo a little bit about Four and Shailene a little bit about Tris. I am sure more of those conversations will happen.
Q: On set, were you able to see kinda first hand the chemistry between Four and Tris in real life? Like is it really happening?
A: Yes. Actually when I saw the screen test I pulled away and I went like this (wipes brow). It was really good. There is a reason they cast him.
Q: What scene did you see when they were filming?
A: It was not… oh you mean on set?
Q: Yeah.
A: It was the knife throwing scene. So, not really a great opportunity to see like romantic tension. But it was a great day to be there. I have written that scene from two perspectives.
Q: Do you know if Theo has read Free Four?
A: I don’t know if he’s read Free Four. I didn’t ask him. I know he’s read the book and probably the second one at this point. When I talked to him he was just starting the second one. I don’t know about Free Four. I am sure that someone has passed it on to him. Cause I mean how do you pass that up, from your characters perspective? It’s not very long.
Q: Lots of fans comment on the characters’ age that have been cast. Do you have any comments on that?
A: I think that headshots look a lot older than people. When I was meeting them in real life, I was like “Oh yeah, this is not a problem!” Like seeing them all together. They definitely look younger than you’d think. I was most concerned about the age gap like looking okay. Cause obviously, Shailene, I think she’s six years younger than Theo. It doesn’t really look that way. I think if you cast an actual 16 year old and an actual 18 year old they don’t look the same age. Especially if the 18 year old is a boy. I think that would actually look kinda creepy. So, I am really happy with the maturity of the actors. I think that was crucial to making that movie work. By casting older actors they have definitely gotten some of that maturity. It’s amazing. I think the cast looks great.
Q: Talking about the actors, which actor do you think was cast the best to your vision of the character?
A: That’s a good question. Who is the best? Actually I think Theo is the closest to how I imagined four. Also I think Maggie Q as Tori is really spot on. I mean I have seen her on Nikita. She’s already Dauntless! It’s all there.
Head over HERE to read the full interview
From Hypable
What’s also new for the author is seeing her characters portrayed by people other than those she imagined in her head for so long. And then there’s the added benefit of watching the actors work with one another to bring the story to life. “It’s really interesting to see how the actual actor relationships reflect the character relationships. All the young initiates have a great comrade with each other.”
As for lead stars Shailene Woodley (Tris) and Theo James (Four), Roth responded with an impassioned “Yes” when asked if the two stars have the right chemistry. “When I saw the screen test, I pulled away and I went like this… [Fans herself]. It was really good! There’s a reason they cast [Theo].” Asked to describe James’ Four in four words, Roth answered: “Handsome. Intense. Sensitive. Badass.” Despite all of this good news, Roth has been hoping the actors can bring their unique vision of the characters to the screen. “I would be a little disappointed if it was exactly how I pictured [the characters] because there’s then no re-interpretation, no new discovery. What I was most concerned about when they were casting was finding actors who could capture the internal world of the characters as opposed to exactly matching the description that I wrote. And in that sense I think it’s been really amazing because when I was watching them act I was like, ‘Yes. This is the person, you did such a great job.’ So even with people I was on the fence with, I was really swayed – at least by the end of the day.”
Details sometimes have to be sacrificed with book-to-film adaptations, however, and one change that had to be made was the ages of the real life actors playing the fictional characters. While Roth admitted she was “definitely concerned” about the age gap between Woodley (21 years old) and James (28), once she saw them together she knew everything would be alright. “Seeing them all together, they definitely look younger than you think,” she told us. “I’m really happy with the maturity of the actors.”
James’ age clearly didn’t affect Roth’s thoughts on his portrayal at all. Despite the 10 year age gap between the actor and character, he was Roth’s first pick when asked which star closest matched her vision. James was followed by Maggie Q who plays Tori. “I’ve seen her on Nikita. She’s a badass, she’s already Dauntless, it’s all there.”
From Teen.com
One topic of discussion during our chat was the age gap between lead actors Shailene Woodley (Tris) and Theo James (Four). In the book, these characters are 16 and 18 respectively, but the actors playing them are a bit older at 21 and 28. When asked about the age subject, Veronica assured that fans wouldn’t be disappointed, saying:
“I think that head shots look a lot older than actual people. When I’m meeting them in real life I’m like ‘Oh yeah this is not a problem.’ Seeing them all together, they definitely look younger than you think. I was most concerned about the age gap looking okay. Obviously Shailene is [six years] younger than Theo. It doesn’t really look that way because I think when you cast an actual 16 year old and actual 18 year old they look the same age, especially if the 18 year old is a boy because they don’t age. So that would actually look kind of creepy. So I’m happy with the maturity of the actors I think that was crucial to making this movie work and by casting older actors we definitely have gotten that maturity which is amazing. I think that gap looks great in real life.”
Veronica also sang Theo’s praises in another way, mentioning that he was the one actor who matched her vision of the book character the closest.
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