After the success of the first film, with more than $288 million in box office revenue, Lionsgate decided to produce a sequel: “Divergent 2: Uprising”, released in 2015. Did you know that most comedians did their own stunts and that Jai Courtney impressed the whole team?
Divergent 2: the return of Tris
After the success of the first film released in 2014, Lionsgate embarked on a sequel. A second film directed by Robert Schwentke brings back a large part of the original cast composed of Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, Kate Winslet, and even Jai Courtney. Still, based on Veronica Roth’s novels, this sequel turns out to be much darker than the original.
Robert Schwentke took some liberties with the novel and offered an even more intense follow-up than the first film, which was praised by fans from the start. On the box office side, this second opus brought in a little more than the first chapter with more than $297 million in revenue (for a budget of 110 million).
Divergent 2: The Uprising ©Lionsgate
In this sequel, Tris uncovers a plot led by the dominant faction: the Erudite. In search of allies, Tris and Quatre are now being hunted by the authorities. Jeanine (Kate Winslet) imposes martial law to wipe out the Divergents. A more action-oriented synopsis that offers some impressive stunts.
Jai Courtney: an impressive athlete
In this second part, the action scenes follow each other at breakneck speed. Although stuntmen were obviously hired, the cast members insisted on doing their own stunts as explained Theo James interviewed for Today :
We did a lot of our own stunts.
Shailene Woodley also lent herself to the game and did most of her stunts herself. She would have even liked to do more:
I often want to do a lot of stunts but the insurance companies don’t always want to.
But the real athlete in this story is comedian Jai Courtney. The latter, who plays the role of Eric, the leader of the Dauntless, impressed the whole team with his impressive physical abilities. Above all, he amazed everyone with his incredible speed. It is in particular in a scene at the beginning of the film that the actor, who did all his stunts himself, demonstrated it.
In it, Eric and the Dauntless pursue Tris, Quatre, and Caleb after finding them at the Fraternals. Stunt coordinator Darrin Prescott says Jai Courtney has left behind all the arrangements usually put in place to film this kind of sequence. Whether it’s the cameramen or electric cars, Jai Courtney was going way too fast! He was then forced to slow down, as Darrin Prescott recounts:
Jai left behind all the devices we use to film the actors running! We tried to have him followed by cameramen, electric vehicles and a flying drone, but he had to be told to reduce his speed to allow the camera to follow him! He is extremely fast.
Jai Courtney put in so much physical effort during this streak that he has also cracked several pants. It must be said that Jai Courtney has always been accustomed to physical roles whether in Terminator: Genisys, jack teacher, or in Die Hard: Beautiful Day to Die.
