SDCC 2015: ‘The Maze Runner’ Cast Talks Budget, Gender-Swapping, And More!
Saturday night’s biggest panel at Nerd HQ was with the cast of Maze Runner, back for their third year in a row. Lead actor Dylan O’Brien (Thomas) was joined by cast mates Ki Hong Lee (Minho), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Newt), Rosa Salazar (Brenda), Giancarlo Esposito (Jorge), director Wes Ball and Maze Runner author James Dashner. The panel opened with a woman asking if she donated a smile to Operation Smile (the charity which Conversations for a Cause benefits), would the cast take a photo with her niece? They happily obliged, raising even more money for the charity. Zachary Levi, the owner of Nerd HQ and moderator of the panel, thanked the woman and her mother stating they have given at least 50 children smiles from their attendance over the last five years.
Veterans to the franchise, O’Brien and Lee were asked if they had any advice on running for the newbies in the movie? They laughed it off, responding that they have enough trouble themselves and the others picked it up quickly. Another fan asked each panelist what they geek out about themselves since they are at Comic Con? O’Brien answered the Mets, Lee replied pizza, Brodie-Sangster chose Star Wars (the originals), Salazar picked Batman, Esposito likes Flash Gordon, Ball added Star Wars as well, and Dashner stated Game of Thrones, Star Wars and Breaking Bad. Someone asked how much Dylan has gained from his character Thomas, the cast sang Happy Birthday to another fan, and they also spoke about Maze Runner composer John Paesano and how the cast grew from the first film to the second. For the actors, they spoke about the transition from TV to film such as getting into a character and the time restrictions between the two.
Levi got more in depth with the cast about how much has changed from the first to second movie, not only in regards to the casting additions, but locations and budget. Director Wes Ball cited that he wanted The Scorch Trials to be epic. The palette of the film changes from the dark maze and the glade to a “sand-filled, rusty, scorched world.” The film took 58 days to complete in comparison to 43 days for the first. Because of the success of the first film, Ball exclaimed how excited he was to receive a bigger budget to play with on The Scorch Trials, adding bigger and better scenes. Dylan threw in his praise for Ball for his dedication and passion to the film and in return Wes thanked the cast for their commitment.
Next, a fan asked about the theme of the sacrifice for the good of the group versus the good of the one, and how Dashner’s role as a parent impacted the book? James responded that, though his number one goal is to entertain the reader and help them escape their world for a while, his personal life and things that are important to him seem “to naturally bleed into the story.“ He added that the important message of the books has always been about friendship, loyalty, and sacrifice. Another question asked was, “if you could play any other character in the film who would it be?” Half of the cast answered Newt, for his wisdom and being the glue that holds the group together. They joked around on stage with Salazar stating her character Brenda doesn’t “Fuck around!” The silliness continued when an audience member asked if the cast could make up their own slang like in the books, what would it be? O’Brien holding his mic upside down then switching it over answered “Meshuganah”.
Another fan asked about a scene shown in the movie’s Hall H panel the previous day. Since the majority of the crowd let the cast know they were not able to get into that panel, the same clip was then played for the Nerd HQ audience. After the clip was shown, Wes talked about how the scene was lit with nothing but flashlights to make it look more terrifying and authentic. Also discussed were who the influential people each character’s name came from (ie: Thomas for Thomas Edison, Newt for Isaac Newton) and who Minho was named after since the reader still does not know. James responded that Minho actually is the name of his niece’s husband and as for the influential person he will be in the future, it can be left open to interpretation. Lee said he would like his character to actually cure cancer in the future and be his own influential person.
The panel closed with the question of, “if each character could be gender swapped, whom would each actor like to play their respective characters? The panelist, stumped for a minute, finally got an answer from Giancarlo saying he would like Selma Hayek to play his character. Ki added Angelina Jolie for him while James chose Taylor Swift for Dylan’s character Thomas. O’Brien joked it wouldn’t work due to Swift’s long legs which would probably cause her to get tripped up while running. Rosa chose Tony Revolori from The Grand Budapest Hotel. Thomas stayed in thought while his cast mates threw out names like Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence. A crowd member in response to the Lawrence suggestion replied “No, too sexy” which caused the whole room to laugh. Levi bounced back with saying about Brodie-Sangster “Do you see how sexy that man is?!” causing Thomas to blush and the crowd to go wild.
Before leaving the stage, the cast greeted the fans and took several selfies with the crowd.
The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials comes out September 18th via 20th Century Fox.
For more information on Operation Smile and how to donate visit operationsmile.org
