HERE THEY COME!

Los Angeles — As early as middle of last year when the movie started shooting on the sly, Hollywood-watchers were predicting that it would be “the next Hunger Games,” likewise on the same path as the Twilight Saga which ended with the third book broken into two movies that wrecked the box-office to the tune of billions.

To be released nationwide on Thursday, March 20, by Pioneer Films, Divergent is also described, like the two hit franchises, as a “young-adult novel,” the best-selling first in the trilogy by new author Veronica Roth (25 years old, more on her soon) who was ranked “The No. 1 Best-Selling Author” by The New York Times no less.

According to reports, Summit Entertainment (the same company that produced the Twilight franchise) acquired the rights to the Roth novel in 2011 when it was an unpublished galley. An instant hit, Divergent was followed by two more books, Insurgent in 2012 and Allegiant in 2013.

A futuristic action-thriller, Divergent is set in dystopian Chicago where residents are divided into factions according to their strength, namely: Abnegation (The Selfless Ones), Amity (The Peaceful), Candor (The Honest), Erudite (The Intelligent) and Dauntless (The Brave). Those who don’t fit into any of the factions are considered Divergent and deemed to be dangerous.

Playing the lead roles are Shailene Woodley, 22, and Theo James, 29, considered as Hollywood’s hottest new stars predicted to shine bigger and brighter once Divergent hits theaters around the world and to generate the same “fandemonium” (as a US fan magazine called it) as the Twilight/Hunger Games stars did. Woodley began acting at age five, starting in commercials before venturing into television and then film, fondly remembered for her turn in the ABC family series The Secret Life of the American Teenager which aired from 2008 to 2013 and for her performance as George Clooney’s rebellious daughter in the 2011 drama The Descendants for which she won Best Supporting Actress (in the Independent Spirit Awards) and nominated for the same category by the Golden Globe Awards. She plays Beatrice “Tris” Prior in Divergent.

Trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theater School in the UK, James, 29, has appeared in a few films (as Kate Beckinsale’s leading man in the 2012 thriller Underworld: Awakening, Woody Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, etc.) and made heads turn with his performance as Mr. Kemal Pamuk, the dashing Turkish diplomat in the acclaimed TV series Downton Abbey. He will be seen next in the crime mystery London Fields (with Johnny Depp and Billy Bob Thornton) and the indie film Franny (with Richard Gere and Dakota Fanning). Described by a US fan mag as “a six-foot-one and 179 pounds of pure muscle,” James in Divergent plays Tobias “Four” Eaton, the Dauntless trainer who eventually falls for Tris.

The international journalists invited to the junket previewed Divergent…a “must,” otherwise, as per the rule, “no screening, no interview.” I was glad that director Neil Burger (Limitless, the 2011 hit starring Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper) saw to it that the movie is faithful to the book which holds your attention in its first few pages and won’t let you go until the end. It’s that unputdownable.

I love the “choosing ceremony” part in which the participants, 16-year-olds set to leave home and live independently, undergo aptitude tests (mental, physical, confronting your innermost fears and how you overcome them, etc.) to determine what factions they fit in, reminiscent of the initiation a neophyte is subjected to before being taken in by a fraternity. The novel has captured the fancy of teenagers because it vividly shows the growing-up anxieties that bug them as they try to discover who they are and what their place in life is.

Woodley’s character Tris, born to and raised by an Abnegation family, fits into not just one but three factions and that makes her a Divergent (considered dangerous).

In person, Woodley is far from dangerous; in fact, she’s physically affectionate. During the series of interviews the day after the preview, she lit up a function room (turned mini-studio) of Four Seasons as soon as she walked in wearing a wide smile. “Hi, I am Shai,” she greeted the TV crew as she gave each of them a hug. I didn’t expect the same warm welcome. When my name was called in for the TV interview, Woodley stood up from a high chair and gave me the same friendly hug. Cool! First time a Hollywood star did that to me! After the interview, she extended her fist and asked me to give her a fist bump. Right on!

Woodley and James, together with Roth, led the dozen members of the cast who showed up for the interviews (more on them in a later issue).

Since Divergent might drastically change her life overnight as Hunger Games did Jennifer Lawrence’s, doesn’t it put pressure on her?

“You know,” she admitted, “every job puts pressure on me as an actor just like it does on every producer. But also as an actor, once I leave the set I feel that my work is done. Everything is completely out of your control.”

James: “I don’t think so because I am a realist so I think until it’s right there and it happens.”

Maybe not many fans know that Woodley almost bagged the lead character Katniss in Hunger Games but lost it to Lawrence. Does she consider Divergent as some kind of vindication?

Saying she’s a Divergent in real life “because our brains are complex,” Woodley said, “No, not at all. I mean, I think I’m very grateful for Divergent and I’ve never really thought about the relation between the two franchises.” But reports said that Woodley did get pieces of sisterly advice from Lawrence who reminded her, “Don’t make a sex tape, don’t do drugs. Other than that, just live your life!”

Did doing Divergent change the way she looked at life?

“In Divergent, my character Tris sort of diverges from what is expected, and I think there’s something beautiful about doing that, with integrity.”

And how does she deal with challenges in life, head-on like the way Tris does in the movie?

“I’m somebody who confronts challenges, yes, head-on. We are here for a reason; we have to deal with challenges in life as they come.”

When James learned that I came from the Philippines, he asked me, “Are you a Manny Pacquiao fan?” Yes, I am, I told him. “In fact, I was with Pacquiao on the plane from Manila.” He was incredulous. “Were you?” he exclaimed. “I am a big Manny Pacquiao fan. I’m looking forward to meeting him in person!”

Back in 2012, I interviewed James for Underworld: Awakening and he volunteered the information that he trained with a Filipino martial artist on Arnis de Mano.

“I also trained with a Filipino on the knife skills,” he said. “But we didn’t use (Arnis de Mano) in Divergent but more   mixed Thai martial arts.”

In the next breath, James revealed his biggest fear — having bad breath!

“I’m obsessively paranoid about my breath,” James (reported to be dating Irish actress Ruth Kearney) confessed in an interview. During the shoot of his kissing scene with Woodley, added James, “I had to make sure my breath was minty fresh at all times. So that would probably be in my fear landscape…having bad breath.” (Quipped Woodley, “He’s a good kisser.”)

Seriously now, “You know, there are certain things you do as an actor which kind of push you out of your comfort zone in any job you do,” he said. “Sometimes, I can be the quiet person so I have to push myself to come out of my shell.”

Oh, so unlike your character Four.

“I am similar to Four because we both have great biceps,” he laughed. “Uhm, Four is one guy who expects the world to treat him the way he likes to be treated, and I’m like that.”

In the movie’s production notes, James was quoted as saying, “I love that Four is a person who thinks before he speaks. He’s a watchful person and he’s listening all the time, but he doesn’t feel like he needs to speak necessarily or make a point of throwing his weight around. He’s also very efficient and strong, but he’s not someone who would show off. Secondly, I connected to Four because he felt like an older style of movie character; he had that element of Steve McQueen or a Paul Newman; they don’t need to push anything. They’re just themselves, with their own sense of masculinity.”

By the way, how did he feel being chosen as one of People magazine’s “sexiest men alive” in 2013?

“Sexy? Am I? Uhm, what would I say to that?” he laughed some more. “Rock and roll!”

(Note: For more on Shailene Woodley and Theo James, watch this afternoon’s edition of Startalk, 4:30 on GMA.)

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)