Earlier this year Hypable hit the set of Divergent. To celebrate the third book’s release this past Tuesday, we’re revealing the first part of our set report!
Chicago, Illinois is the location of Veronica Roth’s fictional Divergent story. Luckily for her canon world and its readers, the real Chicago is where the highly-anticipated book to film adaptation conducted its entire three-month shoot.
On May 16 of this year, Hypable and other sites visited Cinespace, a new studio still under construction in Chicago for the city’s burgeoning film industry. It’s nondescript exterior in a less-than-Chicaqo-esque part of town may fool a passerby. Not only is one of the most popular book series filming within its walls, but A-list stars like Shailene Woodley and Kate Winslet are behind closed doors turning Roth’s dystopian trilogy into what Summit and Lionsgate hope can be called the next Hunger Games.
Hypable had the opportunity to tour many of the sets including an Abnegation village where Tris’ family resides. The outdoor set was a short drive away from Cinespace and sat in the heart of downtown Chicago just a couple blocks away from the city’s iconic Sears Tower. The series of homes were still under construction when we visited and were demolished after the film shot the exterior scenes they needed.
Numerous photos of the set have been posted online from outside of the fenced-off area, but for the first time today we can unveil photos from within the village itself.
As you can see from their appearance even midway through being built, the homes are as simple as the Abnegation people. The residents of this faction are selfless and are more concerned about helping others rather than having lavish things for themselves:
Action!
The scene we watched the cast and crew film? Tris jumps up into the train with a little help from Four who’s already inside. After a quick hair swing to move her gorgeous, long locks out of the way, she stands by Christina and Will. Moments later, Eric notices that she’s on board and asks who let her in. Four stares him down and tells him it was he. The two hold a tense relationship and that’s evident in this scene.
During a break from filming we had a chance to tour the train car the cast were working in. Fans will be delighted to know that every detail is carefully considered to make the world as loyal to the story as possible. On the walls are signs proudly placed by one particular faction. “[This train] brought to you by Abnegation. Our humble service maintains stability,” reads one sign in a font that’s so small you’ll probably never read it on screen. “Train car inspection,” reads another with minute details about the safety of the vehicle below the header.
Another set we walked on was easily the biggest during our day: The pit. A critical area in Divergent‘s Dauntless compound where many scenes take place, not only did we tour the cavernous set but we also interviewed many of the film’s stars there including Caleb actor Ansel Elgort. Our interview with him will come at a later date. The pit had numerous areas that looked ripe for filming and was larger than a professional basketball court. The walls went up three to four stories in some parts.
Other sets we saw included the simulation room and the beautifully simple interior of a Abnegation home.
On page 2… Hypable speaks to Tris actress Shailene Woodley.
Our last interview of the day was also the most important: Shailene Woodley. Before speaking to us the quickly-rising actress who most recently starred in The Spectacular Now (opposite fellow Divergent actor Miles Teller) had spent a full day shooting scenes with Theo James (Four), Zoë Kravitz (Christina), and other supporting cast.
She arrived at our press table with a mason jar with water bottled in mountains far north beyond the United States. She is someone who tries to maintain a life that is as earthly as possible, even in the middle of Hollywood work.
The actress plays Tris Prior, the antagonist of the story who discovers she is Divergent just as the relationships between the five factions are starting to come apart. She can use her special trait to help intervene, but exposing her secret could be extremely dangerous.
Despite the loud fan base, the actress isn’t all too worried about criticism no matter how good or bad it is. “I don’t feel necessarily a pressure at all,” she told us in the most nonchalant fashion possible. “I don’t pay attention to the internet. For me, we’re making a movie based on really truthful characters in a book, and hopefully we’ll do them justice. And hopefully everyone will respond to it the way we’re responding to it. But at the end of the day if you’re making a movie for someone else, I feel like you’re not doing justice to your character.”
Woodley was drawn to the role of Tris because of how normal she is – a trait that both ladies share. “I really liked the fact that she was a very normal person put into very bizarre situations,” she said. “And that she’s not a super hero, and she’s not any more brave necessarily than anyone else in the world but she has to rise to this particular occasion because she’s in this situation that calls for it. I think it’s really beautiful that we’re allowed to explore the courageous side of young adults.”
Through that exploration the leading lady is facing a couple of challenges when bringing the fictional character to screen. While she admits that there are physical hurdles with a film that has sequences like ferris wheel climbing (her favorite scene) and train jumping, the biggest challenge for her is an emotional one. “I’m trying to play the fact that she came from a selfless society and moved into one that values bravery. I don’t want it to seem obvious, so keeping it subtle is the biggest challenge,” she admits.
Hypable will have much, much more from the set of Divergent in a few months.
The movie opens in theaters March 21, 2014. You can discuss Allegiant with those who’ve read it in this spoiler-ific article we published Tuesday.