Divergent author a science-fiction fan

She appears in a cameo in Divergent, in the zip-lining scene in which she leads a gang of initiates rushing up the stairs of Hancock Tower (in Chicago where the movie was shot) and charging onto the roof. And yet, her good looks notwithstanding, Veronica Roth said she’d rather write than act.

“You should have played one of the major roles,” I complimented Roth in an exclusive one-on-one during the Divergent junket at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles.

Blushing, Roth replied in a self-deprecating manner, “You should see me act,” adding as she made a face, “it’s very bad,” and then broke into a shy laugh.

“If ever, which character would you like to play?” I followed up.

“None of them,” she blurted out, laughing.

Roth was 21 and still in college (Creative Writing major in Chicago’s Northwestern University) in 2011 when she wrote Divergent, the first in a trilogy touted to equal if not surpass the record of such Young Adult (YA) novels as the Twilight Saga and Hunger Games. Summit Entertainment, the same company that produced the Hunger Games trilogy (with the third book divided into two movies), saw a potential hit in Divergent and bought the rights to it even in its draft form (published in 2011). Roth has written two more books, Insurgent (2012) and Allegiant (2013), which will also be filmed soon.

Showing nationwide starting tomorrow, March 20 (released in the Philippines by Pioneer Films), Divergent chronicles the series of aptitude tests that 16-year-olds leaving home have to take to determine which factions they fit in: Abnegation (The Selfless), Candor (The Honest), Erudite (The Intelligent), Dauntless (The Brave) and Amity (The Peaceful). Those who fit in two or more factions are considered Divergent as the character (Beatrice “Tris” Prior) is, played by Shailene Woodley (who got rave reviews for her performance as George Clooney’s rebellious daughter in The Descendants), with Theo James as her Dauntless mentor Four.

What inspired her to write Divergent (with Roth tagged by New York Times as “No. 1 Best-Selling Author”)?

“Well, I got the idea in my first year college. I was studying exposure therapy, a method of treating anxiety and phobia in which someone is repeatedly exposed to what scares him until he gets habituated to it. I wanted to use it in a science-fiction way and that’s how the story started. I first came up with the seeds of the idea in 2006 but I didn’t actually start writing the book until four years later and it took me six months to finish the first draft. From then on, everything happened quickly. ”

Talking about phobia, I asked Roth if, just like everybody else, she has phobia(s) and how she got over them.

Breaking into a toothpaste-commercial-worthy smile, Roth said that she didn’t really have any serious phobia.

“Oh yes, I’m afraid of heights,” she admitted. “But nothing that is not treatable.”

And what kind of books and movies does she prefer?

“I’ve always been a science-fiction fan. As a kid, the first dystopian book that I read was science-fiction. That was kind of my introduction to the genre. I’m also a big fan of action movies. I love The Matrix which I watched when I was a kid. You know, it’s kind of connected to simulated-reality thing; I mean, the whole question of exploring someone’s mind.

“I’m also a Harry Potter fan. The idea of inventing a detailed world that you enjoy being in is very interesting and very intriguing to me. Dystopian worlds are bleak, kind of grim, but I think Divergent veers towards more of the positive and it’s got some fun elements.”

No wonder Divergent is described as “Hunger Games meets The Matrix.”

A co-producer on Divergent, Roth had a hand in choosing the cast, together with director Neil Burger, and producers Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher.

“Shailene and Theo have incredibly good chemistry,” said Roth. “The character Four is interesting because he has to be a leader and someone that you are afraid of but also has to have this soft underbelly. Theo really got that, and after I saw the screen test, I told Douglas and Lucy, ‘Please get him. Please.’ He’s amazing.”

According to the production notes, Wick and Fisher were nervous if Roth would like James (who’s 29) because he’s a little bit older than the character was written.

“But as (Roth) watched more,” they said, “there was one point where Theo was improvising and said to Shailene (who’s 22), ‘Come over here.’ (Roth) jumped out of her chair and said, ‘Go, go!’ That was a really fun moment for all of us. Four was really the part that was very hard to fill, but as soon we saw the chemistry between Shailene and Theo, we knew bingo.”

Anyway, I ended the interview by asking Roth what tips she would give aspiring writers.

“Get words on the page even if they are terrible words,” she said. “Leave them there. Don’t fix them as you go, otherwise you’ll never finish writing. You know, my rough drafts are terrible. I do a lot of revising. That’s when I get fired up about my story. Oh yes, I keep every draft.”

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