"Maze Runner" interview with Blake Cooper

October 8, 2014 | The eagerly anticipated "The Maze Runner" movie version of James Dashner's young-adult novel opened with great success in the USA. The sci-fi action flick starring "Teen Wolf" star Dylan O'Brien features some brillant young actors like Blake Cooper, who was so kind to answer our questions about his character Chuck and working on the film with his castmates. Especially Blake Cooper's casting is a great contemporary, digitally-fueled story.

Foto: Blake Cooper, Maze Runner - Die Auserwählten im Labyrinth - Copyright: 20th Century Fox
Blake Cooper, Maze Runner - Die Auserwählten im Labyrinth
© 20th Century Fox
Note: © myFanbase 2014 - The interview is exclusive to myFanbase and may not be published on other websites or the like. You may share the first two questions (up to 180 words) if you link back to this site. Translations other than English and German may be posted with full credit including the link to this site.

1. How did you get into acting?

At first, I actually was not interested in acting! My brother and I are homeschooled and my mom encouraged us to get out of the house more often. So we started to take acting classes at a local acting studio. This way my mom had more time to do house work while we did our fun acting classes! One day the owner of the acting studio reached out to my mom and asked if I wanted to audition for a movie called Parental Guidance. So my mom and I thought "why not?" so I did the audition. The casting director ended up loving my audition and then decided that I should audition for another role. At that point, the casting director said that we should get in touch with Joy Pervis, our Atlanta talent agent. We taped the audition with Joy and sent it in to casting, and that’s how I got signed with Joy! So you could say that I accidentally got into acting!

2. How did you land the part of Chuck on "The Maze Runner"? Did you really contact James Dashner and Wes Ball via Twitter?

So it all started with my friend Olivia. She told me (by Facebook message) that her favorite book - The Maze Runner - was being made into a movie and that I would be a perfect Chuck. So my mom and I researched and read the book. We ended up loving the book and I totally agreed with Olivia that I would be a great Chuck! We asked our agent if we could get an audition for the role, but unfortunately she couldn’t get me the audition. So, I decided to take to Twitter and ask Wes Ball (the director) if he would give me a chance at auditioning. At first he didn’t notice, but the Maze Runner fandom DID notice and they started making fan art and fan fiction and all of those things and it just absolutely blew my mind that they gave me that much support (thank you guys)! So after the wave of fan art, Wes noticed and decided to give me the audition. On set, I heard that right when they saw my audition tape, they knew I WAS Chuck!

3. Please tell us a little bit about the adventurous survival training and the overnight camp-out that you completed before shooting.

So during rehearsals, Wes decided to have Maze Runner Camp (That's what I called it). Basically, during rehearsals, Wes brought in survival experts and ex-military personnel to teach us how to survive in The Glade, just like a glader would have to. I am a boy scout, so a lot of the training was pretty familiar to me. However, don't trust me to build a fire with wet supplies! Overall, it was an incredible experience and I had a blast with all of the guys! We quickly found that working together was the only way to get things done.

4. Chuck is a character with a lot of love in his heart. He makes his parents a present even though he doesn't remember them. What do you love most about the character?

I think I love Chuck. He's just so innocent and kind, but also brave and tough. He's described as the "little brother" of The Glade and he keeps everyone's spirits up with his comedic personality. He can also face a griever without peeing his pants (which is what I would do in reality)!

Foto: Maze Runner: Die Auserwählten - Im Labyrinth - Copyright: 2013 Twentieth Century Fox
Maze Runner: Die Auserwählten - Im Labyrinth
© 2013 Twentieth Century Fox

5. Chuck seems to be the youngest among the Gladers, and he also seems a little bit like your typical sweet-natured boy who might be picked on in High School. Do you think he actually enjoys being one of Gladers holding his own?

I think Chuck wants to leave The Glade, but he is also proud to be part of this society (especially because of the second rule of The Glade, "never harm another glader" so he really can’t be bullied).

6. Chuck and Thomas have one of the most heartfelt moments when Chuck helps Thomas out during his night in the Slammer. How would you describe the relationship between those two who only met a few days earlier?

To Chuck, Thomas is his only real friend in The Glade, but it's the other way around to Thomas. They're both really kinda loners out in The Glade. They just become friends. You can't really explain how you become friends with someone else, it just happens. These two have an immediate chemistry and just like each other. Thomas takes to Chuck and ends up seeing him as kind of a little brother.

7. As huge "Teen Wolf" fans we heard a lot about Dylan O'Brien's amazing sense of humor and improv skills. Did these also come into play when you guys were working together on "The Maze Runner"?

Of course! Dylan's one of the funniest and nicest guys I've ever met! He is also an incredible actor. One time on set, Dylan had a scene with Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and in one take they just decided to go in for a kiss! (They had decided to do this on a dare.) Dylan chickened out, but Thomas was actually going to do it! They both totally improv'd that scene and had everyone cracking up!

8. Which was the most frightening and the most rewarding thing you had to do on "The Maze Runner"?

Probably the stunt that I did later on during shooting. I wont go into details, but the scene required me to put on a harness and be yanked up in the air, while Dylan, Thomas, Kaya, and Ki Hong were trying to pull me back down. I was pretty much a rope in a game of tug-a-war! It was pretty uncomfortable, but a cool experience overall.

9. Which day on set would you like to relive - either to make it better or to experience it again?

I can't pick a specific day, but probably a day when we were all together on the same set. That would be awesome. Miss those guys...

10. You grew up on a horse and animal farm in Atlanta, right? Do you feel like you could survive if you found yourself in the Glade?

Well, living on a horse farm hasn't taught me a thing about wilderness survival, but being a boy scout would (probably) help a lot. Not sure I could survive ALONE, but pretty sure that I could survive with a few of my scouting friends or my two older brothers that are advanced scouts.

11. Since myFanbase is an online magazine about tv shows, we would like to know what your favorite shows are?

My favorite TV show right now is "Attack on Titan". Seriously, go watch that show right now if you want to know what REAL entertainment is... GO! I also like "Once Upon a Time", "The Walking Dead", and Survivor.

Thank you, Blake, we wish you all the best for your future!

Nicole Oebel - myFanbase

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