Whistleblower reveals Divergent sequel put child actors in actual danger

Divergent Series
(Image credit: Facebook.com/TheDivergentSeries)

The Divergent films take place in a post-apocalyptic future in which everyone is at risk — but during the filming of the series' latest entry, Allegiant, fictional dangers reportedly became very real to the 30 child actors working on the set.

The film's child actors, who were as young as 4 years old, "scrambled through a gauntlet of more than 100 untrained adult extras swinging metal clubs, axes, and machetes" during filming in June, reports Deadline. The dangerous working conditions were only corrected on the second day of shooting, when an anonymous whistleblower contacted the local chapter of the IATSE, a union for film employees. The IATSE successfully lobbied to get the metal weapons replaced with rubber replicas.

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Scott Meslow

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.