Shakefire interviewed Jake Abel (Ian) and Max Irons (Jared) about various topics. Some of the questions are repeats of information we’ve already seen. If you haven’t been following all of the interviews to this point (I know there are too many for even me to keep up with!), you can view the full transcript of the interview here. Thanks to Soul to Heart for tipping us off to this!
“SF: In a true post-apocalyptic scenario, where would you go?
MI: I’ve thought about this quite a lot, I’d like to think I’d survive. I think I’d build an underground den in the forest. Who’s going to look for you there? People stay in the cities in these movies. Why would you stay in the cities?! Zombies everywhere, the aliens are buzzing around–GET OUT! Get a gun and hide in the forest. Steal food; eat squirrels. It’s so obvious!
JA: It’s so easy!SF: Are you an accomplished squirrel hunter?
MI: I could hunt a squirrel. I’d make a bow & an arrow; a rudimentary bow & arrow. Or use my gun.”“SF: How was it working in that realm? Was it outside of your comfort zone cause she’s 17?
JA: Nope, that’s right in there.
MI: Strike that from the record! I’ll just say this. Firstly Saoirse’s very mature, secondly, I’m very immature and thirdly, Saoirse’s father was about five feet away from me at all times and he’s a tough Irish guy so, I’m not going to over step that line.
JA: Did they save the kissing scenes until her 18th birthday? Cause she had her 18th birthday on set. I don’t remember.
MI: They might have for legal reasons.”“SF: What advice would have for teenagers pursuing a creative career, especially in acting?
MI: That’s a good question.
JA: Keep your integrity, most of all, and work harder than anybody else. There’s always someone, when you reach a level success, there’s always someone beneath you who is similar to you and knows who you are, has your number and is coming after you. I know that because I was that guy when I was 16. I said, “I’m going to work so hard so that when the time comes when we compete, I might not win, but I’m going to give you some competition.”
MI: Take a chance, take a gamble, and don’t take yourself too seriously. When I was in drama school in third year you get to do auditions. You get to watch all the new people trying to get in. It was always the ones who, when they were thrown a challenge, accepted it even if they might look a bit silly or they might fail. And when you look at great performances, (to Jake) you mentioned Johnny Depp the other day in Pirates of the Caribbean or Joaquin Phoenix in The Master. Those kinds of performances always require a leap of faith.
JA: Be willing to fail?
MI: Be willing to look like an idiot
JA: Yes, continually and perpetually.
MI: when I got into to drama school I was told; for part of the audition; to pretend to be a piece of bacon frying in a pan. And I was doing that in tights; leggings.
JA: It’s because of your bacon work. Your bacon intensive was solid!”“SF: In this movie, the future is very shiny, very fashionable, streamlined. But what was the most challenging part of filming?
JA: There was a day I had to thresh wheat in the cave and they sprayed it with some sort of chemical. I went for the first slice and it just kicked up all of these particles, shimmering particles, that were choking and very unhealthy. Suspiciously unhealthy, I’m sure.
MI: Didn’t we have to sign something?
JA: I don’t know. There was a lot of stuff in the air that was very concerning, that and when we got in that fight, all the dust that got kicked up. It was pretty gross, congesting on set.
MI: I had to do a scene that was actually cut, I can’t believe it. Which was I had to drive over a hill–
JA: Oh, right. I was in this one.
MI: Yeah you were– I drive over a hill and round these serious corners. Now, I’d just gotten my driving lessons, this is the desert, so you’re driving on dust in a jeep from the 50’s with no power steering. Big boulders everywhere to crash into and explode. And I’m going on the radio, “How fast do you want me to do this first take?” and they went, “As fast as you can!” Good. There’s no speedometer, so I have no clue how fast I was going. So I did it and it was alright, I got through it and then they put Jake & Saoirse in.
JA: No seat belts.
MI: No seat belts.
JA: I was Saoirse seatbelt. I had my arm out the window, the placid face right, sweating and Saoirse just kind of clamped onto my arm.
MI: A couple of lives were in my hands; my sweaty, shaky, hands.
JA: I was very impressed.
MI: You didn’t say anything then, you could’ve!
JA: Well, my life was on the line. But afterwards, I said I was very impressed. I don’t know if I could’ve done it
MI: Thank you, buddy.”“SF: The Souls have a lot of really cool technology. What would be one thing you would want to keep if it were real?
JA: Probably the medicine. Because you can really get torn up and they just kind of spray some s–t on you and you’re better.
MI: I’d like a little space pod. A bigger one so I could fit in it. A bigger space-pod please.
JA: For space traveling.”“SF: If you had a case to make for humanity when the aliens came, what would you say?
JA: Watch The Host! Cause you know before I saw it, this was a question, “Are aliens better than humans?” And I was like, “Well, I don’t know. I could think about it.” But after watching the movie, I was like, “Humans all the way! Look how amazing we are.” Look at we can do, look at how we survive and look at how we can learn and change.
MI: Yeah, I think that’s it. I think we can learn & change. Let us learn from our mistakes. I think every person, every species, I imagine if there aliens, we have to learn from our mistakes in order to evolve to that next step. So you know, back off! Let us do our own thing!
JA: Yeah!
MI: But can you leave a spaceship for us?
JA: a bigger, human pod.
MI: Just to play with, learn from.SF: From their perspective we seem like savages.
JA: Then again, they’re sort of peaceful savages with their non-hostile, peaceful takeover. It’s not all black and white. So maybe we’re more evolved than they are.
MI: So you can take that idea with you.
JA: That’s one for the road. That’s one to chew on for the rest of the day.”
So, all in all, some very amusing bantering between the guys, which I find both hilarious and adorable. I have to admit, too, that I noticed where Max reports on his own immaturity. Who knows if that’s true or self-deprecating, but I thought it was interesting. Hope you enjoyed these snippets!
