Week three of filming on The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials was underway at Albuquerque, New Mexico’s I-25 Studios when Hypable visited the set last fall. Although the first Maze Runner movie filmed in Louisiana, the production moved to beautiful Albuquerque for the sequel. Anyone who’s read the book knows why this makes perfect sense: The Scorch Trials dramatically shifts the setting of the story to a desert landscape.
We’ll be sharing details about The Scorch Trials sets we visited in the weeks ahead, but for now we wanted to release highlights from our interviews with lead actors Dylan O’Brien (Thomas) and Kaya Scodelario (Teresa). The two stars, pictured above with director Wes Ball, offered up lots of interesting teases about the upcoming sequel, including thoughts on the film’s YA-bending relationships.
With Dylan O’Brien
The actor decided to drive himself from Los Angeles to Albuquerque — an 11-hour drive across the American Southwest — for the two-month Scorch Trials shoot.
On Thomas at the start of ‘Scorch’
“In the first movie it was so much about Thomas becoming that leader and being that driving force and inevitably being their only chance of going out and making it. And now he’s just lost Chuck, and that weighs heavily on him. It’s a continuation, so you pick up right where we left off [in The Maze Runner] which is basically immediately after Chuck’s death. So he’s just got a lot of weight on his shoulders now, because he feels responsible for this group of kids. He knows that he was the reason [for their difficulties], and he put it all out on the line and now it’s kind of like, ‘Well I hope this doesn’t end up being even worse.’ So it’s sort of like balancing a guilt factor, but still needing to find that strength to keep moving forward and not give up.”
On the major differences between ‘The Maze Runner’ and ‘The Scorch Trials’
“We loved shooting the first one. It was like our little home. Like the Glade was literally our little camp. And then we had the maze. But this one I feel like each week we’re at a different location. So it’s really cool. It’s much bigger, we’re out in the desert, Jorge’s lair is really cool. All of these new places you’re going to see, but mainly it’s like – we’re not trapped anymore. We’re out in the world. And that kind of does something to our characters. I think that’s interesting. We’re no longer forced to be together. So this movie is very much about whether we make that choice to stay together.”
On real injuries: ‘*Shoulder clicking*’
“In the first one, I had like a shoulder, hang on… [clicks his shoulder] Do you hear that?! See that’s my Maze Runner shoulder injury. And I had like a right knee problem from the first one that I think now has subsided. And in this one so far, I mean we’ve only been going a couple weeks. But you know, you’re always being physical so there’s always stuff [happening to your body].”
On Thomas’ relationships with Brenda and Teresa: Romance ‘never at the forefront’
“Another thing I love about our story here is that we never harp on romance. That’s never at the forefront. Even for a second. What I like is that they’re very personal connections. It’s two very different connections between Thomas and Teresa, and Thomas and Brenda.
“I think for Thomas and Teresa in the first movie it’s a place of comfort. It just makes them feel at home. It’s just familiarity basically. ‘Yes this makes me feel safe. I remember you.’ And there’s something really sweet and romantic about that by itself without it having to be like a kissy scene or like, ‘Hey, nice socks on your hand!’ You know? That’s what I love about our movie. Because there’s never a place to stop and do that. That’s so unrealistic. And we tried to do this as authentically as we could. No flack to any of the other films but – I do love those movies, but then I’ll hate it when all of a sudden they’re making out, and I’m like, ‘Okay, but PEOPLE DYING! YOUR LIVES ARE IN DANGER!'”
“Then in this story obviously Thomas and Teresa experience their first butting of heads. Sort of a disagreement. And she does something pretty major and simultaneously he meets Brenda and has a connection with her. There’s a different thing there. Brenda is much different than Teresa. They’re just completely different characters and they’re completely different relationships. They kind of get paired up at one point and he feels for her. He kind of understands her past a little bit and I guess sympathizes with her. But again it’s not in your face and it’s not like, you know, ‘I meet Brenda now let’s go date!’ That’s what I love about it. I rather it be sort of cultivated by the audience. Like them being like ‘Oh, I like those two’ rather than it being thrown at you or forced on you. And I have complete faith that that’ll be the case. I feel like they’re going to [root for] me and Brenda’s connection, and I think they’re going to be people who love me and Teresa’s connection. And they’re going to be rooting for us despite maybe never even getting it. Who knows what’s going to be in the third movie!”
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