Theo James Already Has An Idea Of What He Wants To Be Once ‘Divergent’ Franchise Ends

Theo James is no longer the actor who played a minor role in Downtown Abbey. The British actor now commands multitude of fans following his first appearance on the film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s Divergent series. Despite his fame, Theo told Forbes that he’s still learning.

“In reality, every job, every photoshoot, every interview I’ve been in, I’ve learned something from it. So I think that’s one thing. Another thing is, you learn that sometimes it’s important to take things seriously and act professional. But at the same time, sometimes you need to kind of let it go and say ‘f*** it.’ Because then you can relax and let go of things.”

Contrary to what others believe, Theo did not indent to audition for Four’s role, but a flight cancellation prompted him to try. He is grateful for that occurrence because he admitted that the Divergent series was his movie career’s big break. Nonetheless, he has also shared that being in the films didn’t change his personality.

The 31-year-old actor knows that he still has a long way to go. He told The Theologians his back-up plan should his future career plans would fail to manifest. “I would have probably been a poor musician. I’d definitely do porn as well – but just classy porn, with long storylines. I’d be a Latin dancer,” he quipped.

The Divergent Series: Allegiant did not do well at the box office like its predecessors.The film’s $151.8 million earning was 44 percent lower than Insurgent. According to Collider, this prompted producers to trim down the budget of the final film, The Divergent Series: Ascendant, which will hit theatre screens on June 2017.

After years of breathing life to Four’s character, Theo revealed to Toronto Sun that things could be tricky. “What is tricky for a character that begins with an air or mystery is that by the time you’ve done three movies there’s less mystery,” he said.

Nonetheless, the final film in the franchise will have a new director. While it was Robert Schwentke who directed the last two films, Lee Toland Krieger of The Age of Adaline has been officially tasked to helm the final film.

For Theo, the directorial change “isn’t necessarily a bad thing” especially in a movie where the characters are the same. Whenever the team goes back to film Divergent, Theo makes sure to do his homework. For Allegiant, he worked with a former football athlete who trained him how to be quick when it comes to reaction times and physicality – things that characterize Four.

In Allegiant, Four, Tris, and the rest of their friends are now labeled as “fugitives.” They finally decide to explore the world outside the fence (Chicago) where they discover a gleaming city. While they are welcomed by The Bureau, things won’t immediately fall in their rightful places.

When he’s not filming, Theo admitted that he’s not as physically meticulous because some roles do not precisely call for abs. He cited Secret Scripture as an example where he “couldn’t be sixpack-ridden as a priest in the 1940s as that would be ridiculous.”

Even if the dystopian franchise catapulted him to fame, Theo has no problems going back to smaller parts. He told the same publication that he already managed to tick off action films from his list.

“I’m looking forward to doing smaller things for a little bit. In a way I have less experience with them, so I need to develop myself as an actor and as a person.”

Some of his upcoming projects include Underworld: Blood Wars, War on Everyone, and Backstabbing for Beginners.

(Image via Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images)