Hypable spoke with Blake Cooper about his experience being cast as Chuck in The Maze Runner, and much more. Plus, learn how you can win the DVD/Blu-ray!
Chuck is easily one of the most-loved characters in the Maze Runner franchise, and it takes just the right person to fill those shoes. Luckily for us, Blake Cooper’s casting was absolutely spot-on.
There’s something about Chuck
We asked Cooper why Chuck resonated with him, and he says, “First of all, he’s just awesome character and such a likable characters. Everyone can kind of relate to him.” And Cooper does relate to him — to an extent. “I’m brave when it comes to scary things like heights or roller coasters,” he says, “but when it comes to a complex fighting situation like with a Griever or into the maze, I don’t think I’d be able to handle that. Not as much as Chuck would be able to handle that.”
But the real question is whether he’d be able to survive the Maze. “I feel like I could possibly survive through the Glade for a couple days,” he says. “I think I would definitely need some help, though. I’m not a total survivalist!”
Hey, there’s no shame in that. Those Grievers are terrifying.
Lady Luck
Cooper’s audition process for the role of Chuck was not a typical one. “It started with my friend Olivia,” Cooper explains. “She messaged me on Facebook saying that her favorite book was being made into a movie called The Maze Runner and she thought I would be perfect for the role of Chuck. So my mom and I decided to look into it more, and saw that it was being made into a movie and they were taking auditions for Chuck. So we decided to get in touch with our agent to see if she could get us an audition, and unfortunately she couldn’t get in touch with the casting director, so I decided to go to Twitter and see if I could find the director, Wes Ball, and see if he would give me a chance to audition.”
This is where things get really cool. “I asked him on Twitter,” Cooper says. “At first he didn’t know this, but a ton of Maze Runner fans noticed and they started making fan art and fan casting, fanfiction stuff, which was really cool. Then after a while, after Wes saw that, he decided to give me the chance to audition. And I did the audition and they gave me some notes and I did those, and then my agent contacted me one day and she said that I got the part. And I freaked out!”
But unfortunately for Chuck (and Cooper!), the character comes with a tragic ending. Chuck was so close to making it out of the Maze before tragedy struck. We wonder what he would’ve done had he survived? “I think he’d probably become a more battle hardened, stronger person,” Cooper says. “I think he would have really helped Thomas through all of the trials of surviving a lot more. Because, you know, Chuck was Thomas’ only friend pretty much. But I think it would have been really difficult for Chuck because, you know, in the [Glade] they were safe. They had food and supplies every month. But in the Scorch they don’t have any help. I think he would have helped everyone else. I think he’d be all right.”
The not-so-secret diaries of Chuck
We’ll take a moment to let you wipe your tears away. Meanwhile, let’s move on to something a little lighter. There’s a behind-the-scenes extra on the DVD/Blu-ray called “The Chuck Diaries.” Cooper explains why that ended up in the bonus features: “I think because my audition process was so kind of weird and out of the ordinary they included my audition tape and my reaction tape to when I got the part, because my mom decided to film it! But yeah, it’s just a cool thing they added on. I don’t know! They recorded everyone’s opinion of me and some clips of interviews that I was in and stuff. But yeah, it’s pretty cool.”
When asked how The Maze Runner affected his life, Cooper was quick to talk about his new friendships. “I think it’s just meeting all these awesome people and becoming friends with everyone and how they’ll be my friends for a very long time. Probably my entire life,” he says. “We all formed such a close bond. Everyday on set was just a blast. When The Maze Runner ended it was really hard for me to kind of leave that. It got better a little bit, over time, but yeah, it was a life changing experience with how their friendship has affected my life forever, you know?”
But Cooper also learned a lot professionally: “I just learned a lot from being on set and watching everyone else do their thing. Observing, mostly, and interacting. Wes [Ball, director] and I just talking about stuff. Like one day where I got to sit on the little trolly where they had the camera, which was pretty cool.
“I’m still not a professional!” he’s quick to clarify, though. “Not by a long shot. But you know I’m that much closer now to kind of knowing what I’m doing!”
On the horizon
Professional or not, Cooper does have some great opportunities coming up for him. He’ll be in a new project called Cocked. “It’s an Amazon TV series,” he explains, “and it’s about two families that have distanced themselves from each other over the years and a problem occurs that requires them to come together and cooperate to fix that problem. And the problem somewhat involves guns. Which is probably the most I can say about that.”
“There’s also another project I’m working on that I can’t really talk about right now,” he teases. “But stay tuned and have a wait cause I can’t talk about it yet!”
You can catch Blake Cooper as Chuck in The Maze Runner, which hits store shelves on DVD/Blu-ray today, December 16.
Learn how you can win ‘The Maze Runner’ on DVD/Blu-ray
To celebrate today’s release of The Maze Runner on DVD and Blu-ray, we’re giving away to one lucky fan their own copy of the movie! Enter below to win The Maze Runner 2-Disc DVD/Blu-ray Combo Pack.
Special features include:
● 24-Page Prequel Comic Book which dives into the backstory of the world of the Gladers before Thomas’ arrival. Written by director Wes Ball and co-screenwriter T.S. Nowlin.
● Deleted Scenes with Commentary from Wes Ball
● Navigating The Maze: The Making of The Maze Runner (A Five Part Documentary that includes: The Maze is Born, Creating the World, Finding the Gang, The Movie Inside the Maze, and The Digital Details)
● The “Chuck Diaries”
● Gag Reel
● Visual Effects Reels
● Ruin Wes Ball Short Film in 2D and 3D with Commentary from Wes Ball
● Audio Commentary by Wes Ball and T.S. Nowlin
● Galleries
And don’t forget, the more ways you enter, the higher chance you have of winning! The contest is open from now through December 23. Note that this is a U.S.-only giveaway.
Additional reporting by Brook Wentz.