"Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" is hitting theaters after the success of the original film. The series is the latest young adult franchise in Hollywood and it surprised last year when the original film made over $100 million. Now Fox is planning on finishing the trilogy and hopes to obtain the same results.

Latin Post had a chance to talk to cast members Dylan O'Brien, Rosa Salazar, Kaya Scodelario and Giancarlo Esposito about their experiences on the film and their excitement for the third film.

Latin Post: How did you guys prepare for your roles and what kind of physical training did you guys have to do?

Dylan O'Brien: We ran a little bit and a lot of it was getting acclimated to the Albuquerque. We just kind of jogged as a group every morning before shooting. But nothing to crazy because we needed to survive the shooting days.

Rosa Salazar: I got a terminator woman named Alice destroying my life for a month before I showed up in Albuquerque. So I looked light but I had no more sense of humor. Never trying that one again.

Latin Post: Kaya and Dylan, you guys were in the first film. How was the experience of getting back into your characters?

Dylan O'Brien: It was great. It was another great experience and bigger. There were a lot of cool new characters and a lot of cool new locations. The world really opens up and the scope of it.

Kaya Scodelario: We were lucky in that we filmed fast after the first one. So we still kind of knew the characters and we knew who we were. We had just finished doing press for it. For me as an actor it kind of always takes a few weeks on a new set to adjust to how a director works, how the costars work and how we are going to work against each other and what are each other's process. And there is something really safe and relaxing knowing who you're going to work with. So you can get straight into it and you don't have that awkward period at the beginning.

Latin Post: How did it feel for you, Giancarlo and Rosa, to be the newcomers in a franchise with cast mates who already knew each other?

Rosa Salazar: It was really seamless. We showed up and we were all friends immediately. I would walk up to the others already having conversation and I was already in that conversation. They were all very inclusive and welcoming and I got to say it's almost never this tight. I thinks that why it translate so well to screen and I think thats why everyone is raving so much about the chemistry. It's because it's one big 11-headed organism.

Giancarlo Esposito: We had a director who talked about us all to each other. I remember he would talk about the actor who he was going to hire. Also before production I did my homework and we were able to get familiar with Dylan, Kaya, Dexter and Thomas before we were actually with them. So that was good as well. One thing about life and the movies is that people kind of know a part of you even if they don't really know who you are when you get on set. They've at least seen you acting as a particular you. You listen to people's voices, you observe them, their actions and you try to really blend with them and see what their rhythm is and how they work. This has been a terrific experience in that regard.

Latin Post: What enticed you guys about these characters?

Giancarlo Esposito: For me I think that the novels are full of intrigue, mystery and action and imagination. One thing I love about this particular film and liked the first one as well was that it reminded me of literature, of a book I read many years ago, "Lord of the Flies." I mean, you're trapped in one place and you try to escape. This one had a bigger part to it. People turn on each other and there are questions as well: "How do you help each other?"; "Who is going to lead?"; and "how do you distinguish brawl is what?" It really is about trust and hope and change. There are great messages within James' [Dashner] books that attracted me to do this.

Rosa Salazar: I really like Dylan. I think he was really animated. I had done a YA franchise beforehand and I was like, "I probably won't do that again." Then this came up and I read the script and I was like, "It's really good and the characters jump off the page." You know them when you're reading the script and I really like that. Then I got to meet Dylan before I tested for the film and there was some sort of kinship with Dylan. And then meeting the rest of the group and then meeting director Wes [Ball]. Wes is so passionate about the film that when he talks about it he is so animated and his feet never touch the ground. So he really got us sort of pumped for the film.

Latin Post: What were the most challenging parts of this film?

Dylan O'Brien: It was a really challenging shoot for a lot of reasons. We had a lot of really difficult locations. We always had to be moving quickly. We shot fairly quickly. So it's really challenging when you're doing things at a quick pace and doing things that ordinarily take a long time. You know big action sequences and things like that.

Giancarlo Esposito: Yeah the rural environment was a challenge. Especially towards the end, all the environments, you're driving an hour or more to get to the locations. You don't have a lot of the services that you would have if you were Downton New York or Chicago or L.A. So you're really put in an environment that gives you the essence and feeling to what the film is. But that has its particular challenges as well. We're in the sandy mountains and you expect Albuquerque to be warm, but it gets freezing at night. That is something we were not expecting. This a film that is done with the vastness that Wes has captured on camera and on screen. It's not a huge budget film, so were moving pretty quickly. Everyone was so astute and worried about nailing what we were doing that we were able to get it and move on. I'm sure that Wes would say we could've had another week or two in that last location. But we were able to get it just because everyone was attentive. That's what it takes.

Latin Post: Are there any anecdotes from the set?

Kaya Scodelario: Some of us ended up in hospitals because we picked up a stone from an ancient burial ground. That's quite a funny one.

Rosa Salazar: We all got hurt.

Giancarlo Esposito: We all found out that we were shooting in ancient Indian lands. So custom has it that [you] don't take anything, soil or stone. Everything should be left there. So when I walked into the makeup room one day and saw a stone on the makeup artist's table a stone, I was like "put that back." We were like "this is going to bring bad luck to us."

Dylan O'Brien: And it really did.

Latin Post: What do you guys hope audiences take away from this sequel?

Dylan O'Brien: I hope fans of the book are happy with it. It's always great to get their approval. I'm excited for people to see it and get their second chapter. It's always exciting to finally share what we've done and what was accomplished with everyone.

Giancarlo Esposito: We made a major movie with a major ride. But for me what I hope they take away is a couple of things. One is to stand up to authority, to question, to be an entertainer in a graceful way. The other is to always remember your family that you've created, it could be your family of origin, could be friends, but that your family is most important. Those are the ones that are going to have your back and stand up for you and give your lives for you. And there is a message of hope.

Latin Post: Does it excite you guys to return to your characters for the third film?

Giancarlo Esposito: It's always so exciting to get new material in a sequel and were all eagerly excited to get our hands on the next script.

Rosa Salazar: It's so exciting to return to that world and go on to the next adventure. And a return to the family.

Related