STACK #130 Aug 2016

DVD & BD

FEATURE

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Australian-born actor Keiynan Lonsdale shines in the second film in The Divergent Series , Insurgent. STACK 's Alesha Kolbe caught up with him. FREEDOM FIGHTER

A s Insurgent arrives on DVD and Blu-ray this month, The Divergent Series cast are hard at work on the final installment in the franchise: Allegiant . "I've finished my part, actually", says Keiynan Lonsdale. "But Atlanta was really warm, and everything was really full on. It was a lot of fun". As far as everyone else being finished with filming is concerned, he's unsure. "I have no idea – I've just come back to LA. What I needed to film for me is done. I have no idea what they're doing anymore", he laughs. "I'm finished. I chat to some of the people and I'm like, 'How's it going?' and they're like, 'Yeah, good'. It's kinda cool, you just go in and do your job. Last year I felt like I was there for the majority of it, with breaks in between. You just never know". Although his character Uriah Pedrad, a member of the Dauntless fighting faction and also a Divergent, appeared in the first novel of Veronica Roth's Divergent Series , fans were disappointed to find him missing from the first film, Divergent . "Apparently they just wanted to introduce Uriah in the right way, you know," explains Lonsdale. "They didn't just want to kind of chuck him into the first one – they wanted to do it properly. Which is good for me, because then I got to audition for the second one." Whilst shooting Insurgent , Lonsdale found himself in the company of fellow Aussies Jai Courtney and Naomi Watts. "It's always cool...

one film, I thought it would just be Insurgent , but then when I found out that the character progresses, that he's still involved with the others, that made me pretty excited. I just felt like I'd scored a pretty big goal for myself in being able to do a few movies." Lonsdale is remaining tight-lipped, however, about what we can expect from the two-part finale Allegiant , due in cinemas in 2016 and '17. "I guess it's just like anything. Much bigger and better than the last two," he offers. "There're some cool surprises... when I was reading the script I was thinking of the fans and I was like, 'the fans are really gonna like this'. "And I think in terms of special effects, the Divergent films have always had a really cool way of doing that, and I think that will happen again. I think fans can really look forward to that. And characters develop a heap as well, so that will be good to see".

same for Naomi and Jai. For me, I felt very lucky to be another Aussie working with them. It was pretty cool". Given what happens to Uriah in the books (don't worry – no spoilers here), how much did Lonsdale know about his character in advance? "I read the books, just because I hadn't actually

I saw [ Divergent ] a day before I found out about the audition, so I felt I should probably read the books

heard of Divergent ", he chuckles. "I saw the film a day before I found out about the audition. So I felt I should probably read the books, and I found out there was a lot of attention on Uriah, so I wanted to understand why that was. I loved the books.

"I found out what happens... but for me, when I found out I got the role, I was just

I guess you get to watch these people and you hear about Australian actors going overseas and making it and such. They always seem to be of such a high calibre and it was the

happy. I felt lucky that I got to be a part of something so huge. I thought it would just be

• Insurgent is out on Aug 12

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