‘Divergent’ Series Star Theo James Says He’s Changed With Four

Theo James has been with the film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s Divergent series from the beginning and the actor now says that both he and his character have gone through an evolution together. Change is inevitable, as James has discovered, and it seems this is as true of his fictional Divergent character as it is for Theo himself.

Theo James Evolves As His Divergent Character Grows

Four, played by Theo James, started out as a trainer in the Daintless faction, seemingly incapable or unwilling to bend, but we soon learn that this is merely a front. As the Divergent films progress and Four becomes more invested in Tris (Shailene Woodley) and is ultimately forced to make the choice of running with her, viewers see this Divergent character changing, or perhaps finally accepting, who he is at his core.

At 31-years-old, James admits that Four has helped him to evolve in much the same way Tris has changed Four. Theo describes the experience as a natural process, saying that, as an actor, he brings a part of himself into every role that he plays. As life changes him, and as Theo learns and grows as a person, it affects the way he plays his character. James says this is especially true if a role like Divergent‘s Four, because he’s continued to play this character for such a long time.

”I think it was three years ago when I started Divergent,” says Theo James. “I definitely feel like a different person from that time, so I think Four must change too.”

There’s just one thing about the Divergent series that James says will never change. He loves the high action stunts, implying that he performs many of them himself.

“I quite like blowing off the cobwebs of things. We live in a world where there are no regular levels of high threat. Sometimes I just need to be woken up.”

The Divergent Series: Allegiant Diverges From The Veronica Roth Books

When Insurgent left off, it was a message of hope, as the wall fell and Tris and Four looked forward to following the voice that promised that mankind awaits them, but it seems audiences are meant to forget that ending. As Allegiant opens, the wall is still heavily guarded and Tris, Four, and their small band of allies are taken into custody, delivered to the former Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

Allegiant does take the time to reveal how the world ended up with a walled city and a reinvented caste system. At a point preceding the events of the first Divergent film, the government took on a project of genetic manipulation, attempting to eliminate unwanted traits from human D.N.A., such as the “murder gene.” The experiments backfired and the genetically modified citizens rose up in rebellion and started a war which resulted in the entire United States being laid waste.

The Bureau steps in, builds a wall around the city of Chicago, and dumps the genetically manipulated people within that guilded cage.

The idea was that the damaged human D.N.A. would right itself, much the same way that the Divergent producers are trying to fix the series with this two-part redrafting of Roth’s last Divergent book. The series, which started out with a Potter-like house sorting system and switched midstream to a story about a tragically dystopian society, has lost steam consistently since the first Divergent film, partly because of its plethora of plot holes and its lack of science fact.

It remains to be seen how a re-imagining of this last Divergent novel adaptation will affect the story, and if audiences will return to theaters for the final installment.

[Photo by John Phillips/Getty Images]