- Should we talk about the couch situation?
- Yeah, definitely. - Yeah, this is the kind
of couch where you have to make a definite decision
if you're gonna be proactive
or if you're gonna kind of establish your dominance.
- You're up in it. You wanna be up, yeah.
- I say, yeah, being engaged. - That's almost too much.
That's a little frightening.
- I always, I'm a go-to lad. - I'm a go-to.
- Right. - That seems natural to you.
- Yeah, you're selling it. - You look good.
- I just don't wanna look like I'm too relaxed.
But I'm here and I'm with you guys.
- Thank you, we believe you, Harris.
- Great posture all around by this cast.
The best posture of a cast we've had here so far.
Congratulations.
- Look at this little lady's posture.
- That's what I'm saying.
- I'm trying to emanate that.
- Congratulations on an exciting moment
for "Darkest Minds." - Thank you.
- We're here at Comic-Con.
All the insanity outside those doors.
A little calmness in here, hopefully, for a second.
- Yeah, with a lounge-able couch.
- Yes, exactly. Exactly. - The lounge couch.
- Have you been looking forward to this
once you knew that you guys were gonna get a chance
to be in San Diego for the legendary San Diego Comic-Con?
- Yes, I was so excited. - I love Comic-Con.
- You were saying that you've been on the floor already,
so what was that experience like for you?
- Crowded. (laughter)
- That sums it up.
- We were, like, trying, you couldn't go five feet
without getting, like, almost ran over
by just a crowd walking through.
- Right, and so for all of you guys,
you're new to Comic-Con.
This can't be your first Comic-Con. Have you been before?
- This is my second one. - Okay.
- Yeah. My first one was "The Hunger Games,"
and I was Miya's age.
- Right, so what are your memories
of being here for "Hunger Games"?
- Um, so ecstatic. I remember, because "The Hunger Games"
was such a, was like a phenomenon, you know,
when it came out, so we were swarmed everywhere we went.
Um, I had so much fun. I nerded out a lot.
(laughs) Bought a lot of comics.
- [Harris] Did you get to walk around?
- Anime and stuff. I got to walk around a bit.
- Yeah. - Yeah, it was exhilarating.
It was so exciting. - It is a rush, though,
I would think, to be here
for, you know, you're in the cocoon
of making a film, and you get to experience
all the love out there.
It must be great.
Were you guys familiar with this little thing
called "The Hunger Games" before you signed on
and when you heard that Amanda was involved?
Was that kind of a cool...
- Never heard of it. (laughter)
- I watched it. I watched it immediately after I realized,
after she told me that she was in it, I watched it.
I was like, "I know her! I know her!"
(laughter) - Yeah, I read the first book.
Actually, I did. I did.
I was highly aware of the films. (mumbles)
- (laughs) - I think it's so cool.
Look at this guy.
(laughter)
- Trying to play, playing it cool.
- I just wanted to retract that statement.
- For the record, I am aware of--
- I'm aware of "The Hunger Games."
- Sometimes the humor does not translate.
(laughter)
- All right, now we see the palpable chemistry
between this wonderful quartet of young actors.
I've seen the film. Congratulations on it.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
- What do you remember?
What's the most vivid memory
of making "Darkest Minds" together, guys?
- What comes out? - These guys.
- These fools right here, these kiddos.
- Um... - Well, yeah.
- In between, like, takes, this guy would be joking around.
We'd all be just laughing uncontrollably,
and then Jen would come, and she'd be like,
"Oh, what's going on?"
- (laughs) - Always one in the group.
- We'd be just laughing and almost, like, falling over.
- How dare you? Why are you so unprofessional, man?
What's going on? - Well, he's...
- There's work, there's work to be done.
- You heard, well, you know, I try to keep it interesting.
- (laughs) What's the vibe on an ideal set for you?
Like, do you like to keep it light? Do you like to...
- I think it depends on the tone of the film.
I mean, this one was just fun.
Definitely some darker themes in the film.
- Right. - And some darker moments,
but a lot of it, we just got to spend in the woods
in the summertime in Atlanta. - Yeah.
- Kicking it in a big van, getting closer
and having fun, yeah.
- I mean, we've talked a little bit
about the content of this film before.
It's interesting in that it kind of operates
on a couple different levels, right?
It's like a little bit of, you know, these young people
that have these, like, powers,
so there's that kind of fun part of it,
and it also has a little bit more to it than that, right?
There's some messages to this that's hopefully
not being jammed down people's throats.
But it's kind of just inherent to the story.
Was that important to you when the project came around,
that it wasn't, it was fun and frivolous in some ways,
but it also had some weight to it?
- Yeah, of course. Um, yeah, I mean, I guess
the sort of social message aspect of the film
was what intrigued me the most.
- Yeah. - Um, just this idea
of kids having super powers that adults don't understand
and responding to that with violence,
and then them having to understand how to wield that weapon
and not be afraid of it, I felt like it was really relevant.
- Has it, has it struck you guys that, you know, again,
it's kind of crazy timing, the way this film has come out
in the wake of seeing so many young people kind of
take action and take, you know, empower themselves.
Does that change how you look at the movie now,
seeing what's happening in the real world?
- It's more of, like, an eye opener.
- Mm-hmm. - And coming from,
uh, coming from my high school is very, at the time,
LACHSA, is really into arts,
and I learned a lot from the people there.
They were fighters, fighters for their parents,
um, when it came to, like, rights and things that were,
like, immigration and stuff like that,
so for me, it was more like it's kinda sad,
disappointing it came to this, um, and that, uh,
what's going on politically is affecting people, um,
very directly and seriously. - Mm-hmm.
- And it's, it's more of a wake-up call.
- Right. - For people and young people,
and it's a shame that we have to go that far,
but it's that it's time and that it's more now than ever
for a response to,
response for us to come, come to action
and to terms with the fact that there are plenty of things
going on, but, you know, we need to take care of each other.
- Yeah, totally. On a lighter note,
you guys obviously spend a lot of quality time together
on the set of this one.
If you could switch roles with another character
on the film on the full review, for a day,
for the duration...
- I'd switch it with her. - Yeah?
- Yeah. - I would like to play Chubs.
- All week. - That'd be fun.
- Oh, thank you. - Just be sassy.
- Sassy and classy. - I feel that, I feel that.
(laughter) - Yeah?
- I'd wanna be Zu, I think. - It'd be quiet.
- You'd do it to be silenced for,
silent for long, long, long times.
(laughter)
- Did we get an answer from you? No, we didn't.
- No, no, honestly--
- I mean, that leaves you with Liam.
- Honestly, yeah. (laughter)
- We worked all this with (mumbles).
- I mean, yeah, like, I mean, if I had, like,
to be, like, cool and, like, assertive
and just, like, dominant, in a sense,
or be yourself, like power, like, yeah.
- I think in the story we'd probably wanna be
each other a little bit.
(laughter) - Right, right, right.
Are you at this point just sort of anxious to go
and get this out in the world and sort of see how
young people in particular react to it?
- Yeah, I'm excited to see how, like, the fans react.
- Right. - Yeah, sure.
- Like the people who have read the book,
I'm excited to see if, like, if they're like,
"Oh, well, it wasn't really like the book, so..."
- Yeah.
- I mean, it was a good movie, but...
- Mm-hmm. - It does match up very well.
- Well, there's a good track record.
- Or they're gonna be, like, super excited and be like,
"Oh, my gosh. It was awesome!"
- Do you have a favorite, whether it's like a YA series
or just a, or, or genre or franchise or something?
Like, what's your, what's your jam? What's your obsession?
- I'm thinking about re-reading "The Golden Compass" series,
'cause there was-- - Oh, yeah.
There's doing a series about it.
Like, they're doing another TV thing.
- Oh, really? They're doing a TV series?
Well, now I definitely have to.
- Yeah. - Yeah, I loved that series
when I was a kid. - Mm-hmm.
- Film for me would be "Maze Runner."
- Mm-hmm. - "The Maze Runner" series.
I haven't read the books yet.
Um, but I've watched all the movies.
So I'm planning to read the books.
- Nice. - Would "Narnia" be...
- Yes.
- I love the "Narnia." - I think it would count.
- "Narnia." - "Narnia."
- Guys, we all-- - "Narnia."
(laughter) - You've got the hands.
- Poor guy tried to answer earnestly.
- "Narnia." - I like "Narnia."
- He's a foreigner, right?
- It's a British film. What are you--
- It's okay, bro. - Don't correct me on that.
(laughter)
- He's saying it correctly.
We've been saying it incorrectly. "Narnia."
- The conversation's about pronunciation.
A-dee-das, A-da-das. (laughter)
- A-dee-das.
- "Darkest Minds," coming very soon, August 3rd.
Thank you, guys, so much for stopping by today,
and enjoy the rest of your Comic-Con.
- Thank you for having us. - Thank you.
- Thanks, guys, We did it.