Meet two of Hollywood’s highly sought after actors, Jai Courtney and Miles Teller. Not only are they starring in the upcoming highly anticipated trilogy Divergent, based on the Veronica Roth novels, they are embarking on two other big movie franchises; Courtney is about to shoot the reboot of Terminator: Genesis, in which he plays Kyle Reese opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger; and Teller in the Fox reboot The Fantastic Four in which he plays superhero Mr. Fantastic.

In a post-apocalyptic world of Divergent, they play Eric (Courtney) and Peter (Teller), members of the faction Dauntless in which they learn to face their darkest fears. The dystopian society is divided by factions based on virtues, where Tris (Shailene Woodley) learns she doesn't fit in, becoming Divergent by default. She discovers a plot to destroy Divergents by its leader (Kate Winslet), and with the help of others finds out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late.

In 2012, Sydney native, Courtney starred alongside Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher, and opposite Bruce Willis in A Good Day to Die Hard. And this year appears to be just as prestigious; Angelina Jolie directed him in Unbroken, based on Olympic track prodigy, Louis Zamperini; and he stars in Russell Crowe’s directorial debut, The Water Diviner, about an Australian man who travels to Turkey to locate his three missing sons after the Battle of Gallipoli.

JAI COURTNEY stars in DIVERGENT
Jai Courtney

Teller on the other hand, is known for his fancy footwork in the musical remake of Footloose and the out of control party movie, Project X. Other credits include The Spectacular Now in which he also starred opposite Shailene Woodley, and more recently, That Awkward Moment with Zac Efron and Michael B Jordan.

SR caught up with Courtney and Teller, who proved to be an entertaining comedy dual, to discuss the camaraderie on the Divergent set and their upcoming roles in their other coveted franchises.

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Have you seen this movie with an audience because the audience were hooting and hollering last night?

Jai Courtney: We heard that there was a positive reaction every time we got hurt.

Miles Teller: Which I don’t think it’s nice to cheer when someone is in physical pain.

Jai Courtney: What message is that sending?

Lets talk about the physical transformation of Eric, your character Jai. What did you do? You had some fake tattoos?

Jai Courtney: I had some fake tattoos. I had some hard wear glued onto my head and just got myself a nice little haircut there.

Miles Teller: People are comparing him to Macklemore.

Jai Courtney: I’m flattered by that.

Miles Teller: As you should, he’s an American treasure.

MILES TELLER stars in DIVERGENT
Miles Teller

Talk about the camaraderie on set. You were in different factions, and were it segregated when you were in between takes?

Miles Teller: Well, Ben Lloyd-Hughes was kind of picking on me a lot of the time.

Jai Courtney: He did that with everyone.

Miles Teller: Yeah, he was, he was kind of like the bully of the set.

Jai Courtney: Ben Lloyd-Hughes has an attitude problem and he’s not afraid to kind of let it show.

Miles Teller: Also Maggie Q can be a bit of a diva!

Jai Courtney: Yeah.

Talk about your intense training for this film? How long were you training for and you were training with guns as well?

Miles Teller: How old am I? Twenty-seven? About that long. Twenty-seven years I’ve been training to play Peter.

Jai Courtney: He’s been prepping for this moment since birth.

Jai Courtney Divergent Character Poster

So when you received that call you were elated?

Miles Teller:  I was like phew, finally!

Jai Courtney: He knew it was coming.

Miles Teller: I knew it was coming but I was still excited nonetheless.

If you were to take an aptitude test in real life, which…

Miles Teller: I did and it was an IQ test and it came out as ‘genius’.

You were genius level? Because under 70 is not good.

Miles Teller: Under 70 is not good? Then I did not do very well on the IQ test. I got the whole thing switched up.

Jai Courtney: You thought it was golf!

Miles Teller: I did think it was golf, yeah. (Laughs) That’s the opposite.

Miles Teller Divergent Character Poster

So which faction would you choose?

Jai Courtney: Well you know the safe response here is Dauntless.

Miles Teller: Which one would get to watch Modern Family because that is the one that I would be in. I love that show.

Miles, I want to ask you about Fantastic Four…

Miles Teller: Finally!

How does it feel to be a superhero? Are you really excited for this franchise?

Miles Teller: Yes, I’m very excited. We’re just now ready to prep this thing.  And in a couple of months I’ll be down there in Baton Rouge getting ready to do this thing. Playing a character Mr. Fantastic is not a bad shake.

And I have to ask Jai about Terminator.

Miles Teller: Oh my God!  (Walks off!)

Have you started shooting that?

Jai Courtney: It’s getting close, no. We start next month and yeah, I can’t wait. I’m getting prepped as we speak.

Thank you so much for both of your time!

(Miles walks back in and they both say thank you). 

Other cast members include: Shailene Woodley (Tris); Theo James (Four); Ashley Judd (Natalie); Kate Winslet (Jeanine); Tony Goldwyn (Andrew); Zoe Kravitz (Christina); Maggie Q (Tori); and Mekhi Phifer (Max).

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More: Shailene Woodley Interview

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Divergent is a thrilling action-adventure film set in a world where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues. Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) is warned she is Divergent and will never fit into any one group. When she discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader (Kate Winslet)to destroy all Divergents, Tris must learn to trust in the mysterious Four (Theo James) and together they must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it's too late. Based on the best-selling book series by Veronica Roth.

Divergent opens in theaters on March 21, 2014.