Whistleblower reveals Divergent sequel put child actors in actual danger

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.

"Everyone seemed to know it was wrong, but no one was willing to speak up," said the whistleblower in an interview with Deadline. "To me, it seems that saving money — the expense of rubber props — took priority over safety."

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In a statement, Lionsgate, the production company behind the Divergent series, said, "We take safety issues very seriously, and we are currently investigating this."