Q&A With the Cast from Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
Interview conducted by Sydney Hirsch and Nicole Tennent
Q: Talk about your character Grover in the movie “Percy Jackson &the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” and the things about him that mirror you in real life.
A – Brandon T. Jackson: Grover is a satyr; he’s half goat and half man. If you guys have ever seen Mr. Tumnus on Narnia, it’s the same type of situation. He’s the protector of Poseidon’s son, who is Percy. You think he’s disabled in the movie with these two crutches, but it’s really a disguise because they’re in the modern world, they’re in New York in Brooklyn and you look at him and you think that’s his weakness. We all go to this certain school that is for misfits and people who don’t fit in and have ADHD and different things like that, so you may think someone’s disabled but it’s really his protector. There’s a line in the movie that says, “Just because I’m disabled you think I’m not able to protect you?”
Q: Do you think a lot of kids will get the message there?
A – BTJ: Hopefully, because it’s subtle. Besides that, it mirrors my character because it’s also the comic relief in the movie and he has kind of the funny line in the different things and he’s more about overcoming certain situations. Like even with this movie, it’s definitely a quest for all of us to be going all around the United States and promoting this movie. Hopefully we get everything done the right way. For me, it’s like really earning my horns. That’s what he needs, his horns, to be a real satyr. It’s about overcoming anything.
Q: What was your favorite part of filming?
A- Jake Able: Flying. My dad is Hermes, the messenger god, so I fly around in the movie in my flying Chuck Taylors. Logan and I spent a good amount of time on wires- months and months- filming chase scenes where we are flying around New York City and using the shoes also.
Q: Did you guys have to do a lot of training?
A- Logan Lerman: Yeah, there was a lot of choreography we had to learn.
A- JA: We had bamboo swords in our rooms that we would practice with for hours
Q: Was the equipment used in the film real?
A- LL: No, the swords were all bamboo. In a scene where we really have to use a sword it would be real.
Alexandra Daddario: The wires were really hard. I had to spend about two days doing wire work. The wire work was really rough on me. I was really sore after.
Q: Talk about your growth as an actor from when you first start with 8 Mile.
A- BTJ: You mean when I was an extra in 8 Mile, yelling 313 (laughing)? Well, it’s a lot further than 313. I think that right now I’m learning to be not just one note. Sometimes you get comedians in films and it’s the same. I don’t want to be like “I’m your protector, Percy!” It’s not that guy. You know what I mean? It’s not about the joke, it’s about the acting. I can entertain people but you can still do it in a way where you’ll be a good actor. The best I’ve seen is Will Smith. He’s funny in movies, but he still maintains the acting. He doesn’t overplay the scene. Y’all see it sometimes in movies where comedians are really funny but they overplay a scene, and you’re like you’re doing too much. That’s the tough thing. So it’s about really balancing out the comedy side with the acting side and making sure you stay true to both sides because that’s what’s going to make the movie good.
Q: How did you feel about making a movie that was adapted from a book?
A- BTJ: I was very happy because African Americans don’t get to do stuff like this, on some real stuff. I know it sounds crazy, but like you don’t see us in significant movies. Not like that. Or if we are, we’re doing background. It’s not bad, but I’m just saying it’s a pleasure to be considered for this type of role because it wasn’t…it went to that direction and its cool for us to be able to do more in stories and not just the same old, no offense to anything, but the same old situations.
Boys Soccer Takes League Title
Boys Soccer Takes League Title
Written by: Elaina Gardner and Cheyenne Stone
Swaying back and forth, yelling with the team, arms around each other, preparing to play their best. The energy exudes off of the team as the boys varsity soccer team heads on to the field, ready for their game. This soccer tradition, the power circle, is one way the team becomes motivated. This year’s captains kept the tradition going on the way to the team’s first OAA White league title since 2006.
The boys feel that having this power circle tradition pumps them up for the game. Although the team’s work ethic strengthened during the season and led to fourteen victories, when the season began the team had a less than positive attitude after last year’s second to last place finish.
“Towards the beginning of the season, I don’t think anybody was very confident in our ability to do anything,” senior captain and goalie Stephan Cass said. “But as the season progressed, we did pretty well. A lot of it came from team-building like bowling and that kind of stuff. And then, when we started to win, a lot of people got more confident in our goalies and their positions.”
The boys agree that the experiences they shared improved their friendship and advanced their game. The improvement of the growth and maturity of the team helped the team win their last league game.
“It’s a big step up from last year [when] we finished second to last,” varsity coach Joe McCarty said. “It was just a bunch of young guys last year. They were all sophomores; now they’re all juniors. They’ve had a year of experience so they’ve gotten bigger, better, faster. They know what it takes to win.”
As the team’s sophomores matured into juniors, this year’s varsity retained a large number of returning seniors as well, creating a stronger team chemistry that also contributed to the success of the team.
“I think mostly we matured as a team and we have a good chemistry together,” senior captain and defensive midfielder Stefanos Thomopoulos said. “We have [around] 15 players back from last season, so we all know each other. We have a very strong defense, great midfielders and forwards.”
Along with team chemistry, this year’s captains – Thomopoulos, Cass, and senior captain and center midfielder Pat Rooney – galvanized the team during games and practices.
“I just give pregame talks sometimes,” Rooney said. “I email old players, and I’ll say ‘There’s a big game. Can you tell us some things that you used to think about before games?’ Or like, what this team means when we play them. And then I’ll read [the response] to the team before a game. When we do that power circle, we’ll say something before [the game] like ‘play a hundred percent’. Pretty much we just yell at them and tell them it’s pretty serious.”
Along with pregame traditions, a change in preseason practice helped improve the team’s record. This year, the team focused less on traditional running conditioning and instead focused on more practices to perfect the players’ game skills.
“We do summer [practices] two nights a week, captains’ practices, so they’re starting probably the week after school ends,” McCarty said. “And two nights a week there’s conditioning. They kind of run stuff on their own, so two days every week, over the summer. And then we also do a summer camp. Captains are kind of responsible for putting that together, so there’s a lot to do outside of school to get ready for the season.”
The boys won leagues by defeating Farmington 3-2. Down 2-0 in the first half, the team scored a goal to make it 2-1 then scored two more in the second half for the victory. After winning leagues, the team focused on winning district games and states.
“We are working on new formations, more defensive formations, because the teams we are going to be playing will be well offensed in their lines,” junior forward Patrick O’ Donnell said.
The team won their first district game against Pontiac 2-0. However, they lost their second game to Rochester 1-0, ending the boys’ season.
“It was very disappointing because we thought we would go really far this year,” junior center-midfielder Alex Chmara said. “Honestly, a lot of us were crying because it was just an awful loss.”
The sentiment of the loss didn’t compare to the excitement of a strong season. Although this soccer season is over, the juniors are preparing to be even more successful next season.
“As far as we are concerned, next season starts now,” Chmara said. “With our club teams, and playing through the winter indoors, we will get better for next year.”
Exclusive Scriptor Interview with “The Lovely Bones” Actress Saoirse Ronan
In her novel, The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold follows the lives of a family torn apart by the murder of their young girl. While walking home from school, Suzie Salmon falls victim to a neighbor who is an acquaintance of the family, a neighbor who rapes and kills Suzie. The reader observes the Salmons from when they first report their daughter missing and through the months and years while their hope of ever finding her fades.
Most interestingly about this story is that it unfolds from behind the eyes of Suzie Salmon. You experience the murder and stay with Suzie while she dies and goes to heaven.
Sebold creates a new perspective on heaven in The Lovely Bones. Suzie wanders, feeling lonely and waiting for a new friend or old loved one to come and be with her in heaven, when she finds out that there is a way to watch her family. She painfully observes her brother and sisters grow up without her, and her mother and father grow apart while searching for any hint or clue to solve the disappearance of their daughter.
Paramount pictures has adapted Sebold’s cleverly constructed novel into a film that will be released in December 2009.
Saoirse Ronan plays Suzie Salmon in the film; I had a chance to interview her about her life and her upcoming role.
Q: Are you in any way similar to Susie?
Saoirse Ronan: Yes, I think so. Susie is a very creative girl. She was very happy, fun. I mean, she’s a typical teenage girl, so I think a lot of teenage girls when they go to see this movie will connect with her in some way, because she’s just a normal girl, and that’s what’s so awful about what happens to her.
Q: How difficult was it for you to act out the rape/murder scene? I know in the trailer it doesn’t show a lot of what the scene is like, and I just wanted to know if the movie even shows it? How it touches on it? Or, just how acting it out was?
Saoirse Ronan: Well luckily, it wasn’t as visual as the book. Have you read the book
Q: Yes.
Saoirse Ronan: Yes. In the book, as you know, it’s quite difficult that first chapter when it’s explained what happens in the underground room. But, we actually don’t show that much in the movie. So, there wasn’t anything extremely awkward to act out or to do with Stanley, so it was very good. It was very tastefully done, and it’s kind of left up to the imagination of the audience.
Q: What was your favorite scene to film?
Saoirse Ronan: My favorite scene to film? There’s so many. I don’t want to give too much away, either. I liked the – I quite liked the stuff in Heaven, and we used a lot of blue screen. We had quite a lot of stunts. So I don’t think I could pick one, but Heaven was certainly my favorite part to shoot.
Q: Hi. I was just wondering what your favorite part about working on the movie was.
Saoirse Ronan: My favorite part? There’s quite a lot I suppose. I loved working with Pete – with Pete Jackson. He’s a great guy. He’s an incredible director. Very different to any other director I’ve worked with before. He’s got a very different style. So yes, I really loved working with him.
Q: Okay, I was wondering, how do you think audiences will react to the film, since the book is so popular?
Saoirse Ronan: Well, I hope that they react well, and that they like it, and the book is obviously very popular, as you said. It’s a very beautiful book, and it’s very close to a lot of people’s hearts and it’s helped a lot of people through some very tough times.
I hope that the movie will do the same thing for people. That it’s – you know, whatever they imagined when they read the book will be up there on the screen in front of them.
Q: You said that you only read the book afterwards. After you finished filming and you read the book, was there anything that you feel like you really hit on the head or anything that you feel like you wish that you could’ve changed or done differently?
Saoirse Ronan: I think that what we had in the movie was also pretty relevant in the book as well. I think we took the most important (unintelligible). Of course, it’s going to be different in some ways because it’s a film version of the story. But no. I think one of the greatest achievements in the movie is the connection between Susie and her father, Jack. I thought that that came across really well, and it’s quite beautiful.
I hope that readers of the book feel the same way when they see the movie.
Weekly Sports Update 11/05
CROSS-COUNTRY
Over the weekend both boys and girls cross-country teams competed in the MHSAA Regionals. The boys finished 10th out of 15 teams, ending their season, but senior Adam Sadler finished seventh and qualified for the state finals next week at Michigan International Speedway. The girls finished 11th out of 14 teams, ending their season.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
Girls Swimming and Diving is competing at the league meet held at Seaholm November 5th and 6th. After the league meet, the team will prepare for diving regionals held at Groves on the 17th followed by the swimming and diving state meet at Oakland University on November 21st.
WATER POLO
The varsity boys water polo team hosted Regionals over the weekend and finished second, defeating Dexter 17-3 and Okemos 19-11 but losing to Ann Arbor Pioneer 6-5 in the championship. The team will compete in states at Seaholm on November 13 an 14. Their first game is against Rockford at 7:45 PM.
VOLLEYBALL
The varsity volleyball team lost 3-1 at regionals Monday, ending their season.
Media center specialist Roberta Sibley wins this year’s prestigious Michigan State Librarian’s Excellence Award
- Media center specialist Roberta Sibley, Recipient of the Michigan State Librarian’s Excellence Award, helps freshmen David Bellefleur find materials for a school project.
AIDS Walk
Gay Straight Alliance co-sponsor Mike Reese endured watching his brother in law, a
doctor and athlete, wither and eventually die from AIDS. Royal Oak resident Jack Tony
cared for three friends eventually taken by AIDS. Other Metro-Detroit residents cried as
they read the hundreds of quilts stitched in honor of loved ones no longer alive because
of AIDS.
Despite these tragic stories that fueled thousands to participate on September 20th in
the annual AIDS Walk Detroit, the mood was anything but somber.
Gazing at the sun dappled trees on the 75 degree, clear skied day, the bright tee-shirts
and flags with messages of hope, the dogs with ribbons tied to their hair and around
their paws, Reese seemed to feel that nature itself blessed the event.
“I have done this for the past nine years, and it’s always like this on this day. Always
sunny, always such a beautiful day.” Read More
3.3 million cut from the Birmingham school district budget mid-year
Michigan state congress and Governor Jennifer Granholm recently cut the education budget more than previously expected by cutting $165 per pupil, vetoing the 20J funds for Oakland County
Schools, including Birmingham Public schools, and, on Thursday October 22, cutting an addition $127 per student funding. This veto has raised some protest from the state senate, where State Senator John Pappageorge is lobbying for the Senate to override the Governor’s veto of the 20J funds. These cuts in general funding equal a total of over $3.3 million in money that must be
eliminated from the Birmingham budget this year. Administrators are scrambling to accommodate these cuts after the district already drafted and approved a budget for this fiscal year. Unless
Proposal A is amended, educational leaders and the government expect more cuts in the next two years, estimated at $16 million.
Principal Fred Procter explained that, while schools are funded by the state, the state does not determine its budget until October. Schools must approve a budget for the upcoming school
year by June 30th. ”So we’ve already been operating for a while under the current budget, and now the state comes back and says, ‘We’ll cut you. Even though we already submitted a budget, that budget can be cut and cut significantly. At some point, we’re going to be in a position where we cannot afford to educate in the way we’ve been educating,” Procter said. ”I think some districts across the state are going to be hit so hard they can’t operate. The state must make a decision about what they’re going to do: support these schools, support these kids, or support the educational system”
A series of public forums and key dates regarding the educational budget:
October 27- Community Budget Conversation- Berkshire, 7:00
November 3- Election Day for Birmingham Board ofEducation candidates, including Katie Reiter, Birmingham parent and graduate of Birmingham schools
November 3- Board of Education Meeting, Ad. Bldg. 7:00
November 5- Community Budget Conversations- Derby, 7:00
Groves Scriptor
Welcome to the new Groves Scriptor website. The Groves Scriptor is an award-winning, student-run news publication based at Southeastern Michigan’s Wylie E. Groves High School.
It is still a work in progress.
