Maggie Q and Shailene Woodley have an even stronger bond offscreen than they do in the movie.
Credit: Summit
Leaping onto moving trains and jumping off buildings aren’t things most people would rush to do, but then again Maggie Q isn’t most people. “I dive with sharks. … I think it’s really fun to explore that reckless side of yourself and have that glorified by everyone around you,” she tells us. “Who doesn’t want to experience that on some level?”
It’s no wonder she was right at home playing Tori in the new dystopian movie “Divergent” (out March 21). Based on the best-selling book by Veronica Roth and the first in a trilogy, “Divergent” is about a society divided into five factions, each exemplifying a specific virtue: knowledge, peace, honesty, selflessness and bravery. Tori is, of course, one of the brave, a faction that participates in the aforementioned leaping onto moving trains and jumping off buildings.
Tori is the first to realize Tris (played by Shailene Woodley) is “divergent,” someone who won’t fit into one of the factions. “We had an instant chemistry the first time we read together, which is why I got the role,” Maggie Q says of Woodley. “I love her. We feel like we were separated at birth. I look so forward to watching her grow in this business. She’s a true talent and seeing her flourish is going to be really great.”
Maggie Q doesn’t think only teens will relate to the movie. “It has so many real-life lessons,” she says. “The overarching theme is how the choices we make affect the rest of our lives. In the movie, it’s an overt choice when you’re 16, but the truth is our choices every day are always going to set us on a path, and they affect those around us who we love as well.”
Of course every big blockbuster needs a heartthrob, and “Divergent” found him in Theo James, who plays a fellow member of the bravery tribe. “When I saw him onscreen in the movie, my stomach was just doing flip-flops because I was so excited. He’s about to be the biggest heartthrob in the world and I’m just so proud of Theo,” she says.
Maggie Q is signed on for all three movies, and that commitment was yet another thing she did without fear. “It’s every actor’s dream,” she says of being tied to a project for so long. “It’s the best problem to have, ever.” Instead, she was more concerned with her character than the timeline of the project. “For me, I [asked myself], ‘Do I like this character? Do I think I can bring something to her that no one else can? Does she have a journey in this whole series?’ And I felt that all those things were positive.” It serves as a reminder that this movie is only the beginning.
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