Maze Runner: The Death Cure – the final film in the fantasy trilogy – premieres this Friday.
I’m not ready to let it go. I’ve watched these actors grow up on screen, full of chemistry, talent, and remarkable grit.
This is the best film in the trilogy – full of action, intimacy and macro looks at what it fundamentally means to be human. I sat down with some of the cast for a victory lap, and to talk about their time shooting one of the epics of this decade.
The Knockturnal: First of all congratulations on a great final movie.
Dylan: Thank you.
The Knockturnal: How are you all feeling now that this is wrapping up? What kind of emotions are coming up?
Dexter: Still excited. Still very very excited about getting this last movie out and people seeing it. Still excited about promoting it and being with each other again. We will feel some sadness knowing that this is the last one, but we’re just so excited about the movie and passionate about all three projects and the family and friendship that we’ve built.
Dylan: I’m gonna miss it so much, and I think that’ll only keep setting in more and more. I couldn’t be more grateful. I just feel like I lucked out in the biggest way. It’s rare in the industry to have what we got to go through and experience.
Dexter: [To Dylan] You always say it’s like summer camp, when you go to your favorite summer camp and you see your favorite friends all the time.
Kaya: And now we’re too old for camp. And we can’t go back.
Dylan: They will arrest us.
*All laugh
The Knockturnal: I think that really comes across on screen; that camaraderie you all have.
Dylan: Thanks, man.
The Knockturnal: No problem. How would you say you’ve grown as actors over these three movies?
Kaya: I’ve done a bunch of indies and low-budget things, and I love that. But I really wanted to learn about Hollywood movies and being on set with a green screen and technology. [Director] Wes is kind of the best person to get an education from for that sort of stuff. Now I feel very confident going onto a set where Im doing green screen or CGI, thanks to Wes and thanks to these movies.
Thomas: I’ve never done a thing that’s lasted this long. We started ages ago, and we’re only just finally coming to the end of it now. So it’s been nice to have that length to it in order to develop relationships, in order to develop your character, and to have something to look forward to coming back to every year has been really nice.
Kaya: Employment.
Thomas: (Laughs) Yeah just the general employment has been really quite nice.
The Knockturnal: Obviously there a lot of really intense action sequences. How did you decompress? Did you do karaoke, group messages?
Kaya: Not so much karaoke. We chill. We drink beers and talk.
Dexter: On Sundays, we would get together – (pointing at Dylan) he’s an awesome drummer and awesome bass player – and we’d just jam out. We would kind of unwind that way, too. We’d go have dinners and eat food. You know just things completely removed from the big action stuff. Just spending quality time with each other really.
Kaya: On the first movie we went out a lot. Like ‘we’re going to party and rage.’
Thomas: We were also next to New Orleans.
Kaya: I wore a pink tutu on a bar with a saxophone player at one point. But now we’ve kind of matured enough where we want to just sit and talk to each other. Which is really nice. It’s almost better. We get in there.
Dylan: My favorite nights are when we get off at some point after a night shoot – which happened a lot in Cape Town – and we go back to someone’s apartment and have a drink and stay up till 8 or 9 cause it’s your post work thing. Just talking; talk about the day, everyone just kind of processing everything.
Thomas: Watch the sunrise.
Dexter: So many pictures of sunrise from the balcony at the apartment.
