Just over a year ago the film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s novel Divergent hit cinemas. It went on to gross over $288 million at the global box office and the sequel, Insurgent, will be released in just a few weeks, on 20 March. At the time of the first film’s release, most of the cast weren’t on a lot of film fans’ radars, apart from Shailene Woodley. What a difference a year makes and ahead of the hotly anticipated sequel, it seems like a good moment to take a look at the career paths of the leading stars of The Divergent Series.
Shailene Woodley
Before signing on as Tris Prior, Woodley had already won a Golden Globe for her role as George Clooney’s rebellious daughter in The Descendants. Woodley’s made some interesting choices since taking on Tris. Last year she was lauded for her role opposite Ansel Elgort in The Fault In Our Stars – some pundits even predicted awards season buzz but unfortunately that wasn’t to be. She famously ended up on the cutting room floor after her turn as Mary Jane Watson was cut from The Amazing Spider-Man 2. With the news of the new Sony-Marvel deal, it looks like we’ll never get to see her in Spidey’s world. But as well as huge studio movies, Woodley’s also making a name for herself in the indie sphere, starring in Gregg Araki’s White Bird In A Blizzard (in UK cinemas on 6 March). Her next film shows her stock in Hollywood really is rising, she’ll be working with Oliver Stone on his film about CIA leaker Edward Snowden.
Theo James
The British hunk who won the role of Four in Divergent was almost unknown to anyone outside of Lady Mary’s bedroom in Downton Abbey. But his turn as the Dauntless instructor-turned-Tris’ love interest has helped him land roles alongside some of his acting idols. Already in the can is London Fields starring Johnny Depp and his wife, Amber Heard; plus Franny which stars Richard Gere as a man who meddles in the lives of newly-married couples. James is also currently working on Jim Sheridan’s new film, The Secret Scripture, alongside Rooney Mara, Eric Bana and Aidan Turner. That’s quite some company he’s keeping!
Ansel Elgort
Fans of the Divergent books will know we should get to see a bit more of Ansel Elgort as Tris’s brother Caleb in Insurgent. He’s been busy away from the franchise as well – co-starring with Woodley in The Fault in Our Stars in 2014, and he has a couple of films on the books including Van Cliburn which is currently in development with the producers of Stars. It follows American pianist Cliburn who rose to fame during the midst of the Cold War when he won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition. Plus, Elgort is due to reunite with his Carrie co-star Chloe Grace Moretz in the adaptation of the novel, November Criminals.
Miles Teller
I may be a bit controversial here, but I think Miles Teller is the biggest star to have broken out from the Divergent movies. I know he was around before, but his performance in Whiplash has put him on every Hollywood director’s radar. And good for him, I say! But he will be back as Tris’s nemesis Peter in Insurgent. What an incredible 2015 he’s going to have, from appearing at the Oscars (nice drumming by the way) to starring as Mr Fantastic in the Fantastic Four reboot, you won’t be able to get away from Miles Teller this year! He also stars alongside Anna Kendrick and Bryan Cranston in comedy Get A Job and plays the lead in Bleed For This which is about boxer Vinny Pazienza who was told he would never walk again after an almost fatal car crash. On top of that, Teller is expected to work with Whiplash director Damien Chazelle again on comedy-musical La La Land and he’s currently filming Arms And The Dudes with Jonah Hill. Plus at some point he’s expected to play Dan Aykroyd in the John Belushi biopic. It seems Miles Teller just won’t stop. He’s definitely rushing, not dragging!
As you can tell Miles Teller is one of Flicks And The City’s top 10 rising stars of 2015. Check out more reasons why you should watch him here.
Where will the four leads be in another year’s time? They have two more Divergent films to make before they’re done. Could we see one of them follow Jennifer Lawrence and be an Oscar winner by the time the franchise is done? I guess we’ll have to watch and see!
Insurgent is in UK cinemas on 20 March.
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