As everyone knows, many sequels are terrible. Fortunately, “Insurgent,” opening Friday, improves on last year’s big-screen version of “Divergent,” the beginning of Veronica Roth’s massively popular series.
RedEye recently sat down at Howells and Hood with the 26-year-old North Side resident to identify some of Roth’s favorite movie sequels and ask “Would you rather?” questions pertaining to “Insurgent” and other dystopias. And, yes, actually ask the author—a Northwestern grad who again spent time on set, offered feedback on the script and served as a consultant about the franchise—a few questions about the book and movie.
Plus: Above, watch Roth consider new ideas for dystopias, courtesy of RedEye’s Mick Swasko. And click here to watch Swasko react to Roth’s reactions to his ideas.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze” or “D2: The Mighty Ducks”
“Oh my gosh! ‘The Ooze.’ I love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s the strangest concept for anything. But it’s great. I was never that big into “Mighty Ducks.” They’re good, but …”
“The Empire Strikes Back” or “Aliens”
“‘Empire Strikes Back.’ Because ‘Star Wars.’ I think that’s the best ‘Star Wars’ movie probably. I love ‘Aliens.’ That’s probably the best ‘Aliens’ movie also. But my affinity for ‘Star Wars’ overrules.”
“Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey” or “Terminator 2”?
“Terminator 2.”
“Toy Story 2” or “Toy Story 3”?
“Oh, ‘Toy Story 3.’ I cried like a baby at that movie.”
“The Bourne Supremacy” or “Die Hard 2”
“‘Bourne Supremacy’ just because I haven’t seen ‘Die Hard 2.'”
“Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”
“‘Two Towers.’ ‘Lord of the Rings’ forever.”
“The Dark Knight or “The Godfather: Part II”
“‘Dark Knight.’ Haven’t seen ‘Godfather II.’ … [Laughs] Plus, Batman is my favorite superhero.”
How different does it feel to see the second movie based on your work on the screen vs. how it felt with the first one?
I’m a little calmer about it this time. The first one, it was like, “I don’t know how this is going to be. Nothing in my life has prepared me for this moment.” This time I kind of knew a little more what to expect. This was really interesting because so much of the work was in post-production because of all the CGI. So seeing it all put together was really amazing because I had only seen the cartoon versions before that that they do beforehand to show you kind of what it will look like. It was really exciting, but I was a little more levelheaded about it.
You blogged about continuity errors that came along in the process of writing “Insurgent.” Was that a note you made about the script, to make sure that those didn’t make it into the movie?
[Laughs.] Well, no, I mean the continuity errors that I had in “Insurgent” were a lot of like, “She has a gun and then she doesn’t have a gun and then she has a gun again” and “The glass is broken and then it’s back together.” It was tough.And you would hope a filmmaker would be able to realize that’s a problem.
Right. So I didn’t really worry that that would carry over because they pretty much have that on lock.
You said recently, “I like to lean into the creepy.” Tell me the creepiest thing you’ve done lately.
Well, I’m not a creepy person I hope. [Laughs.] I did just read a book called “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” by Caitlin Doughty. She works as a crematory person, so she’s describing the stages of decomposition of bodies and what it’s like to be cremated and all that stuff, so I just read that book and that feels a little … yeah. It’s fascinating to me. So I looked up pictures—this is so creepy but such a weird writer thing to do. I looked up pictures of what she was talking about because I couldn’t visualize it. So I looked up pictures of corpses.
But you had a good reason to.
Yes. Yes, I did. I promise. [Laughs.]
Is that the kind of book the author can do a reading for?
I bet she can. She seems quirky enough. She’s funny, so I think she can pull it off.
I feel like the image of a bookstore filled with people wanting to learn about what it’s like to be cremated …
Yeah. I think people are deep-down really fascinated by that though. Even though there’s a part of you that’s like, “That’s disgusting,” there’s another part that’s like, “Ooh, let me lean in.” Sort of like when you drive past a car accident. You want to see, but you don’t want to see. But you want to see.
At one point Tris [Shailene Woodley] wishes divergence wasn’t part of her. What’s something that, at any time in your life, you wanted to change about yourself?
Oh, man, I think it’s probably some neuroses. ‘Cause I’m like afraid of a lot of things, so I’d really love to go through the world with a little more bravery. I think that would be great. I’m working on it, but you can’t change some really deep tendencies that you have. I think I’ll always be a little neurotic. It’s hard to accept.
Is there something you’d like to challenge yourself to do at some point in that goal of becoming braver?
So I get really nervous when I travel, especially to countries where English isn’t the most commonly spoken language. So I think my goal is to just go–go places and then learn how to embrace sounding dumb when you’re trying to pantomime. Or looking dumb more likely.
We had so much fun doing “Would you rather?” situations in our interview last year I thought I’d bounce some more off of you.
[Laughs.] Bring it on, yeah.Would you rather try to dodge a train or jump off a high ledge to grab a rope?
Oh my God. I would rather dodge a train because I really hate heights. I would not like to do either of those things, to be clear.
Not a choice. Take a truth serum or be stuck with 10 needles at once.
Ten needles at once. I’m not afraid of needles.
But you’re afraid of the truth?
Well, that serum is rough! It’s not just the truth; it’s like every little thing that you prefer to keep private. You know, everybody’s got private things!
Watch “The Maze Runner” or “The Giver”?
Oh, no, don’t make me choose between movies! Well, “The Giver” is like my first dystopian book, so … I mean, I saw them both but … I guess “The Giver.”
Read “The Hunger Games” or “Harry Potter”?
“Harry Potter.” I love “The Hunger Games” but “Harry Potter” is like, I grew up with that book. I’m a big Potter-head, you know that, right?
I do; I know you love both. That’s why I had to challenge you.
You’re killing me here!
Fight someone with silverware or your bare hands.
Silverware. A fork could do a lot of damage, right? My delicate little fists [couldn’t] … with these rings, maybe.
Watch “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” or lick a pole on the CTA?
[Laughs.] Watch “New Moon.” Yeah, I’ve seen that movie already.Watch Matt review the week’s big new movies Fridays at 11:30 a.m. on NBC.
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