Set in an undisclosed-future, a utopian society has found peace and stability through a systematic removal of everything that makes them individuals. The Giver, based on Lois Lowry’s Newbery Medal winning book, details what the costs of such a ‘Hegelian’ vision of the future entails – sure there’s no war or violence or despair; but also no love or joy or emotion of any kind.  Like most YA novels/films, there’s, of course, a number of teens who rise up against their totalitarian elders, daring to challenge the status quo; but it’s a testament to Brenton Thwaites and Odeya Rush that they’re able to imbue these prototypical characters with surprising depth, an undercurrent of futile despair hanging off their every line.

In the following interview with Rush and Thwaites, the two young actors discuss the ‘daunting’ task of playing characters from such a beloved series, the differences in the film from their book counter-parts and using the script vs. the novel as a reference. In addition -- Brenton Thwaites talked about the ambiguous ending of The Signal and the potential for a sequel. Hit the jump, for the full interview.

Brenton Thwaites & Odeya Rush:

  • Thwaites and Rush on their stay at Comic Con and promoting The Giver there
  • On the daunting task of playing characters from such a beloved book
  •  Given they’ve aged up the characters, were Rush and Thwaites able to look to the book for insight into their roles?
  • Do the two actors feel like there are differences between the book characters and what is up on the screen? Brenton Thwaites discusses his penchant for starring in genre films
  • Thwaites on the ambiguous ending of The Signal and the potential for a sequel

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