Maggie Q speaks out on her role in Divergent and butting heads with her director.
Den Of Geek: Knowing yourself, what faction do you think you would be?
I mean its definitely a part of who I am.
But I wouldnt say that any of the factions are all encompassing, you know.
Im like, Well I think Id be divergent.
Because arent we all in some sense?
So I think that would be me more than anything.
What appealed to you about Tori?
Was it the fact that shes got this toughness to her?
Its not because they want or are choosing to be, its because they have to be.
Thats definitely where it roots from in Tori, you know.
Shes got a lot of pain behind why she doesnt want anything to do with this girl.
And its not something that she wants to see again.
Its not something she wants to be involved in.
But more than that its not something she wants to relive.
And I think those reasons are genuine when understanding her coldness towards this girl.
Its not just one level.
Its not just one layer of coldness.
So it was interesting trying to find that path with her.
You definitely get the sense that Tori has a history.
How much of that did you get out of the script?
Did you maybe talk to Veronica or go back to the book to learn more?
You know, I wasnt one of the actors that talked to Veronica during this actually.
I sort of created my own origin story in my head.
Thats something I do with a character study too.
I think for this character in particular the adaptation was pretty close to the book which was good.
And how did you and Neil work together?
And the reason theres directors and writers and other actors is because we all see things very differently.
And so then the compromise begins.
Compromise sounds like a negative word but actually for us it was very positive because you have to compromise.
I mean thats how a successful relationship actually ends up working.
So we did have a lot of back and forth about what his ideas were and what mine were.
And in others I feel that he was.
Can you give me an example of something you differed on?
One of the biggest was how unwilling a mentor Tori was.
I wanted you to know that this person was tough.
I wanted you to know that she had her reasons or suspect that she had he reasons.
But I didnt want it to just read cold.
And hes like, No, it is because were going to be moving into this space.
So we kind of went back and forth with how far to go in her expression.
But we want to know why.
Its not even a logistical thing like that.
I dont really need to know all of that.
And then she basically goes through the facts.
Shes still, Listen, this is what went down.
She doesnt even get into the emotion of it.
Thats going to happen in the second one.
So have you read ahead?
I know what happens in the second one.
Theyll pump things up or bring things down or whatever.
However best they can tell a story on screen is the way theyre going to adapt the book.
It doesnt have to be exact.
So I like to do things backwards.
Youve got a rep as an action star.
Bad rep (laughs).
And now weve got this film with a female lead.
TheresThe Hunger Games, of course, and theres a new300movie out with two strong female parts.
Do you feel any sense of change happening in the industry as far as that goes?
Its interesting because the real birth of the strong female was in the 1970s.
I mean thats really when we kind of went Whoa.
At that time it was a lot more fantasy-based but it was still strong.
So now when theyre casting, theyre doing things in film that they werent doing before.
Its just like ethnically diverse casting now.
So I think its a really good opportunity for women now.
Its a strong female example that Im really proud of and Im really excited about Shailene representing that.
Read our review ofDivergenthere.
Read our interview withDivergentdirector, Neil Burger, here.
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