Theo's time

Theo's time

Divergent is going to put rising British hottie Theo James on every girl's radar - if he is not there already.

The handsome 29-year-old first made women sit up in 2010 with his one-episode role as charismatic Turkish diplomat Kemal Pamuk who suddenly dies in Lady Mary's (Michelle Dockery) bed after having sex with her in the first season of British period drama Downton Abbey.

But it is his portrayal of dark and dangerous Tobias "Four" Eaton in the upcoming action blockbuster Divergent, opening here tomorrow, that will really put him under the international spotlight.

He plays a member of the Dauntless faction who is also instructor to the characters born outside of the faction and the love interest of heroine Pris Trior (Shailene Woodley).

The pair must find out why their society - which is divided into factions based on virtues - is plotting to destroy Divergents who do not fit in before it is too late.

But even though everyone thinks James is sexy as hell, the actor - who recently finished production on two upcoming films, London Fields and Franny - does not see himself as Hollywood's next big heart-throb. Boy is he ever wrong!

He spoke to the media at the Four Seasons hotel about his current project.

Four is a very physical character. How did you prepare for the role?

James: It began with covering myself with body milk and staring longingly at myself. (Laughs)

No really, we had a month to prepare, which in a way isn't long enough because you feel like the more you can get in, the better.

I had to gain a bit of weight because I wanted him to look a certain way, but I didn't want him to look like a meathead or anything.

I wanted him to have this certain air of danger; someone who can really be dangerous if he is pushed.

Training took a mix of learning the fight movies, going to the gym and a lot of stuff that I already knew.

I had a local Chicago guy, whom I met before the film, train me in boxing and sparring stuff so that the performance was as real as possible.

The fight scene with Shailene Woodley was pretty intense. What are your thoughts on it?

James: It's one of my favourite scenes in the book. It's not only a cool action sequence, but it questions gender because you have a woman and a man fighting each other, which feels strange when you see it the first time.

Punching a woman in the face doesn't ring very pleasantly with me, but that's an important scene and it builds into the climax of the movie.

So which faction would you choose?

James: Gryffindor (one of the Hogwarts houses in the Harry Potter movies) would be my choice. (Laughs)

Dauntless, because they get to have the most fun and are the most free and the risk-takers. Erudite as well because I kind of think too much.

What was the vibe like on set?

James: Lots of giggling and flirting. No, it was good fun and we all really got to hang out. It felt like college at one point. We were all down the hall from each other in this big Chicago apartment.

Afterward, when you're doing long days, you want to have a few beers and we probably did too much of that.

At the same time, at the beginning of filming, I deliberately kind of distanced myself a bit because Four is a distant character in the start of the film.

Did you have to audition for the role?

James: Yeah, I had to do a long chemistry test (with Shailene). They were looking for us to basically get down and dirty. (Laughs) You can't think too much on the chemistry aspect of it because it then becomes forced chemistry and that's s***.

It's more about how you connect and with her - they wanted someone who could bounce off her in a way that wasn't pushing anything, but still felt that it had presence.

Now that you're part of what's going to be a huge franchise, did you go to anybody for advice, say someone like (The Twilight Saga star, British actor) Robert Pattinson?

James: I doubt he would have picked the phone up. He'd be like "Who?". Not really, because I think as an actor, every job you do, you want it to be good.

There's this element that it'll be X or Y, so you get used to two kinds of reserved judgments until it really happens, and I'm probably too pragmatic and too much of a realist to think beyond the moment.


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