Actress Kaya Scodelario, who will appear as Teresa in ‘The Maze Runner’, recently spoke with Tribeca Film about working on ‘The Maze Runner’ and strong female characters.
On ‘The Maze Runner’ being her first big franchise film:
It was a lot of fun. For me, honestly it was actually the same as making an independent film in many ways. At the end of the day when you’re on set and you’re working; it doesn’t matter what environment you’re in. The work should still be of the same quality, and you should still put as much of yourself into it as you would anywhere else. But obviously there are nice positives – you get a lot more free food, which I really like. [laughs] There was chocolate all the time and cookies and stuff, which I thought was amazing.
On director Wes Ball and the inner working of ‘The Maze Runner’:
The set was a great atmosphere, and the director, Wes Ball, was really fond of the idea of making this film. His energy just fueled you to work harder, and that’s important. I didn’t find the creative side of the project to be compromised by the money and the studio. Everyone behind The Maze Runner just wanted to make a really good, high quality film. And I think we achieved that. I had such a wonderful experience, much better than what I expected to be honest.
On strong female characters in film:
Once I came into the media world, 95% of the scripts I read have a nude scene or the female character would be in her underwear for no reason. It’s really difficult and can be disheartening. However, we have to focus on the good projects to give them the recognition that they deserve. Strong female leads need to be made more mainstream. There are some wonderful, wonderful independent films being made with women of all ages. I think that’s what we should try and focus on. There is still an imbalance between insightful, strong roles and stereotypical ones from my personal experiences, but I don’t think it’s a lost cause.
You can read more from Kaya and hear what she has to say about her new film ‘The Truth About Emanuel’ and her opinion on being the most re-blogged actress on tumblr here.