STACK Template

38 / 110

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
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.
und out what happens...
t for me, when I found out
I got the role, I was just
happy. I felt lucky that I got
to be a part of something so
huge. I thought it would just be
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".
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 alway
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
038
visit FEATURE DVD&BD
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
I saw [Divergent] a
day before I found out
about the audition, so
I felt I should probably
read the books